Guardian Angel
by jozb22
Summary: Eve Caster ran away from her home on Alfheim when her elders threatened to lock her away forever. Now, as she travels the nine realms acting the hero that she hopes she can one day be. Working as an assassin for Tony Stark, she faces a run in with Loki that changes everything, and when the chitauri invade, she's forced to face her demons, unearthing a power she didn't know she had.
1. Runaway

Foreword: My story takes place after Thor, but sometime before The Avengers. I know that several of the timelines are a little rough, but hey, in the midst of everything that's going on in my life, I don't exactly have time to iron the whole thing out.  
Listen, I don't want to scare you or anything, but life can be hard. But I'll take it like it is and tell it like that too. So just hang on for the ride, and maybe you'll learn something along the way. At least, I hope you will.

Things used to be easy.

Life was a simple live and let live, help when it benefits you, love who you're told, do whatever it is that your superiors tell you to.

But I never could.

From day one, I was different. I never managed to fit the mold. Maybe you couldn't have been able to tell from looking, but I always felt that it was wrong. How could I let an innocent die just because it didn't suit me to save them? Just let whole worlds fade because it would be risking too much, putting myself too far into harm's way?

I stood by too many times and watched as my people did nothing, even when we could have stopped it. So I left, running away to never again return, running far, as far as I could, spreading rumor of my death along the way. Then I came here. To Earth. Where I could finally help, finally make a difference.

Well I suppose I should probably introduce myself. Hullo there. My name is Eve Caster. I have blonde hair and greyish green eyes. But thats's not important, seeing as they change all the time. I'm fairly tall and thin, and that makes me look more grown up than I actually am, which believe me, is definitely a good thing. I came to this world a few years ago. I look like I'm somewhere between 18 and 20, and used to age really slowly, but don't really age at all anymore-

Sorry. I do that a lot. Get ahead of myself, I mean. I'm a Light elf from Alfheim, one of the nine realms. And before you ask, yes, I have pointy ears, but I usually use a glamor to conceal them and my other elvish attributes from the eyes of mortals. My grandfather is the Chieftain of the Light Elves, but my uncle is the heir to the throne, and my mother is the youngest of thirteen siblings, so I have a very small chance of ever actually ruling.

As if I would want to.

I came to Midgard to do something... Different with my life. I was rather surprised at what I got.  
But enough about me, let's get this show on the road.  
I'll start from the beginning this time, or rather, where my life really starts to get interesting.

I was a private investigator slash assasin for a rather famous billionaire. You might know him.  
His name's Tony Stark.  
I had been working for him for a little over a year and a half when I was given the assignment. The scene starts back in New York, just after I returned home from a long mission in Germany. 

_Wow, throwback to 2013. I was only a little teeney child when I wrote this, and everyone agrees that it gets better the closer to the present that it gets. Sorry about that. But anyway, here goes nothing._


	2. Uninvited Guest

I stood, supposed to be paying attention, in a building that had barely begun construction, as I attempted to listen to my boss, Tony Stark, giving me details about my next mission. It was a frigid winter, and the unfinished lobby of Stark Tower was still completely open to the harsh elements of New York City, distracting me with a combination of gusts of wind and the hammer of power equipment.

Stark, bundled up in a fancy famous person parka, handed me a laptop instructing, "But really, Eve, you have everything you need on here, so don't lose it, and don't let it fall into the wrong hands, okay?"  
I nodded, and grabbed the laptop into my mittens. You wanna know the real reason why no one had made an attempt on Tony Stark's life since that messed up Russian character? I mean, he's a billionaire who had acted like a jerk for more than half of his life, and he has some seriously nasty people who hate his guts.

Well, that's where I come into the story. Seeing as Iron Man can't just pay a visit to his enemies without anyone noticing, I'd investigated anyone who seemed like a threat, on orders from Stark, even stopping a few from making an attempt on his life, turning them over to the authorities, never, ever, killing them if I could help it. Others were less violent, but still felt like they deserved something from him. I made sure they walked away with...lets just say, no more hard feelings.

I was paid very well, and all of my expenses were covered by Stark Industries, including all of the plane tickets, hotel rooms, and any other uh, _unintended_ problems as well.

Like that time when- oh yeah that's right. _Classified information._

"This mission is different," re reminded, for just about the fifth time. "Do not under any circumstances make contact with the subjects. Even SHIELD has them labeled as highly dangerous, which seems to be an uncannily popular label coming from them, but still, I just want information. Especially the others like them. This will basically be like a working vacation for you. You look like you need one."

I shot him a sour look, but he was right. As I mentioned earlier, I had just arrived back from a month long trip to Germany, and I had barely slept for the past few days. My lip was finally starting to look better as the six stitches finished healing. I could've just used magic to fix it, but I was going the slow way as a sort of punishment for messing up in the first place. Scars make good reminders.

Just then, Pepper Potts walked in, wearing a more fashionable version of Tony's parka that brought out the bright color of her hair. I like Pepper, don't get me wrong, but she is a little overprotective sometimes.

Particularly about Tony.

Especially after the Natasha Romanoff incident.

"Aren't you done yet, Tony?" She asked, shivering and trying to do work on a tablet through a thick pair of gloves.

"Coming, mother," he responded, sounding a bit annoyed, but turning around to find her. I walked over and shook her hand.

"Eve Caster. It's been awhile," she smiled.

"Too long, Miss Potts," I replied, smiling too. Long story short, we were old friends. Plane crashes can do that to people.

"Well, lets head out." Tony said, taking Pepper's hand. "I don't want to be late for the meeting tonight." He said sarcastically.

His meeting. He would show up when he wanted. Just didn't like the attention taken away from him. Pepper turned to wave goodbye, but I was already gone.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

On the plane ride to St. Louis, I studied the data on the laptop. It was weird. Tony must have been hacking SHIELD again to get this kind of information. My targets were a tall young man with longish dark hair, pale skin, and icy blue eyes. He went by the name of, get this, Loki.

He apparently had been sighted in multiple secure SHIELD locations, (which was a feat even I was unsure that I could accomplish), along with being on security cameras at the Stark Tower planning meetings. No one who was there had had any recollection of ever seeing him, and those meetings were supposed to be secure. The public wasn't meant to have any idea about the new plans.

I doubted that it was the real Loki though. Now that would be something you don't see every day.

The other was supposedly his brother, Thor, who had stormed into a SHIELD facility and attempted to steal a satellite of some sort. A few days later, he had battled a giant robot, leveling half of a town in the process. Afterwards, he had sworn to protect Earth. Talk about bi-polar. There were some pretty epic looking photographs included in his file of him fighting and flying in a red cape, and fully decked out battle armor that looked like it was authentic Asgardian. There were also a few of him dressed as a normal person, drinking coffee and laughing. He looked pretty happy in a few with a girl, identified as a Jane Foster.

It was kind of hard to believe that they were the _actual_ Thor and Loki, and I doubted that they would remember our chance meeting several hundred some years ago, if it truly was them. What would they want with boring old Earth anyway?

Before I could contemplate further, the pilot came on the intercom and announced that we would be landing shortly.  
When the plane finally landed after a short delay, I stepped into the airport, and checked my ticket. My bags would be at Baggage Claim 4 in about forty five minutes. Perfect. It gave me just enough time to check in to my hotel and take a look at my room.

Why don't I travel via the luxurious and much faster Stark-air, you might ask. It was much easier to stay under the radar of organizations like SHIELD when you weren't constantly flying around on Tony Stark's private jet. Although, It made getting through security more difficult, especially with all of the weapons I insist upon carrying everywhere, but magic fixed all of that. My bags always went right through.

However, my usual method of travel was teleportation by use of magic. Teleportation requires a lot of focus and energy, so I tried not to transport long distances if I wasn't in a rush, at least before New York. To get ready to teleport, I waded into a deep crowd, where a person would not necessarily be noticed if they suddenly disappeared going around a corner.

With my carry on bag over my shoulder, I focused and felt the rough and powerful surge of energy come through me as I was jerked in an upward direction. I felt a brief moment of freefall before I landed steadily on my feet on the other side of the city where my hotel was, about a block away from the building.  
I walked quickly with my hood pulled up, against the brisk wind. The Missouri River was stretched out to my right, and the Arch was just ahead. There were hardly any pedestrians because of the cold weather, but I could barely feel it. Winters back home were harsh, so I was used to the cold. I continued up the street to my hotel, which would be my home base for the next week or so, unless I got a lead that led me elsewhere.

The hotel itself was a fancy high rise, newly constructed with a sleek curved design, the outside covered in shiny metal and glass.  
I walked into the lobby, out of the cold at last. It had a rich lavender theme, with embossed wallpaper around parts of the walls in a rectangular print, giving the open room a modernized design. There was a small gift shop and a café to the left, and a full restaurant to the right. Looking around carefully, I saw that it was mostly empty, except for one young couple, recently married by the looks of it, and one man sitting at a table eating something from a street stand. He was a medium height, and very muscular underneath a light brown leather jacket. Brown hair. Not my type, really. As I checked in to the desk, I watched him in the corner of my eye. Stand up. Throw out his trash. Take his coat off of the chair. Make his way toward me. I didn't tense up. That might tip him off.

He was definitely an intelligence agent, and a good one at that. His name was Clint Barton. Level 6 for SHIELD at least. One of the best in the business. Hawkeye was his nickname. I remembered him from some old case files. I never forget a face.

Oh, and I should probably mention that Light Elves, when trained, have the ability to read minds. My kind of mind reading, wasn't the way most humans imagine it to be, but it still lets me get a pretty good idea about people and their intent, despite being a little void of detail. Try more like emotion reading. Agent Barton was under orders to investigate me. He didn't feel threatened by me at all, which was kind of disappointing. I would've thought that he wouldn't have underestimated my skill like most of the other agents did. I could have taken him down easily without lifting a finger. He was bored, no doubt having waited here for me for awhile. His presence definitely wasn't a good sign. It meant that Shield was probably on to me. And by sending him, they at least must know how dangerous I was.

He was also just a bit curious. Maybe about whatever was in my file. Maybe about what I was doing here. Whatever. I couldn't tell.

He met me halfway across the lobby. Obviously under cover, only holding a few concealed weapons in his boots and under his jacket. He made no move to attack. I almost stopped, to see what _exactly_ he knew, but I had to focus on my mission, and I couldn't let myself get distracted, so I turned and kept walking past him and towards the elevator. When I passed, I sent a strong confusion spell his way to keep him off of my case. At least for a little while. This mission had the potential to be incredibly dangerous, and I had to put my full attention on the task at hand.

I rode up to the 43rd floor, and walked down the hallway to my room, using the the card given to me to get in. I quickly but thoroughly combed the place for bugs and any other booby-traps that I might find, checking the locks on the windows, doors, and vents. Being so high up on the building, I was unconcerned with anyone being able to access my room from the window, but all the same put down the shades, and put a Do Not Disturb sign on the door, along with a pretty much unnoticeable spell across it to let me know if anyone came in while I was gone. I finished it off by placing a large protection spell around the whole room and teleported back to the airport.

Easiest way to get through security ever.

I should probably explain the whole magic thing now before you get too confused. There are so many different kinds of magics in the multiverse that it is hard to define them all. Sometimes they are mistaken for Science or just plain flukes, but Magic is Magic, and I have a strong talent for it. For me, spells and charms are pretty easy, and I can use most of them any number of times as long as they stay in my memory. I don't use a wand. I have no idea where you mortals get that concept from. I know some nature magic, and a few other kinds of more complicated magic, but I rarely use them on Earth.  
I mean I can't exactly fly around downtown shooting blasts of magic at people.

Well, at least not if I want to keep my cover.

Glamours are easy for me, and I use them to make me look different than I naturally do. I expend a lot of energy every day keeping up my glamour, and using my energy for transport, so I don't use other magic unless I really have to. It keeps me from getting noticed too often. But hey, on the plus side, to do my makeup in the morning, all I have to do is touch up the glamour a bit, and I'm good to go. Jealous yet?

Later that afternoon, I came back to the hotel after claiming my luggage and stopping for a bite to eat. Gotta love the airport IHop. I was still bundled up against the bitter cold although the sun was making a valiant effort to shine through the clouds. Coming back to my suite, I pushed open the door with my foot, carefully pulling my bags inside and dropping them down on the richly carpeted bedroom floor that would be my home and base of operations for the next week or so. I strode over to the window, and taking a quick glance at the St. Louis skyline, dropped down the shades. Its funny. I could've sworn I'd left the blinds down when I first came in here this morning to do a sweep on the room, but the window was locked, and no one had used the door or the vents. No teleporting either. The window was 43 floors up, and unlike some buildings, this one had no ledges or balconies to climb around on. Just a clear, slick surface that would make climbing up impossible. Unless Spiderman had broken in.

Like that would ever happen.

I was immediately on guard, but I tried to look just as relaxed as I had been the moment before, as I began to unpack my luggage. I put my laptop on the desk in the back, and began to pull weapons out of my suitcase, placing them in the top drawer of a dresser that had a mirror on top of it, still wary of an uninvited guest. While I pulled out a case of small throwing knives and tried to shove them into the drawer, I saw it. Just in the corner of the room near the bathroom and the closet, a ghost of a shadow showed through a sliver in between the curtains. I swept around and threw a knife at the wall opposite me, directly above where the shadow originated.  
The first man who I was supposed to be investigating materialized, the knife less than an inch from his face, wobbling on the wall from the force of the throw, and he slowly raised his hands in a position of surrender, though he still held some kind of spear thing in his right hand. He looked much better in person than he had in the grainy photographs taken from security cameras.

Similar to how I thought that the real Loki should look. But then again, most of the gods always looked perfect. Like movie stars. Rarely getting their hands dirty, especially in public. The man posing as a god (demigod? How am I supposed to know?) stood in a proud, tall posture, showing that he was important, or at least thought himself to be, and he had a kind of young, innocent look in his deep blue eyes that was somewhat overshadowed by a mischievous smirk, like a child that had been caught with one hand in a cookie jar.

"They made it seem like it would be a little harder to find you than this." I greeted, hands on my knives, ready to throw.

His face split into a dazzling smile, with perfectly straight, white teeth. He was taller than me, and his hair was as dark as night. His features were outlined by the fading sunlight coming from the window.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I was trying to be found. Though I am somewhat, _disappointed,_ that you didn't notice me sooner."

I was having trouble reading his thoughts. It seemed like he was blocking me.

"What, sooner than Germany?" I countered. "What were you doing there? Stuttgart is pretty nasty this time of year."

"Oh, just seeing the sights, as the mortals like to call it."

 _Mortals?_ Maybe he _was_ a delusional psychopath. I still couldn't believe that he was the genuine article. If I could just get in...

"And here I thought you were just stalking me because I was pretty," I pouted mockingly. "But really," I continued, still holding a knife in my hand and a gun in the holster on my waist. "Who the hell are you, and why have you been following me around? Please tell me you're not another one of those grumpy old SHIELD agents coming to arrest me. They are always such a pain to get rid of."

"Not anything of the sort." His chilling blue eyes glowed, just a small bit, not enough for most people to notice. Then his drab green clothes began to shimmer and change into some kind of battle armor. A golden helm with horns appeared on his head, and he stepped forward.

"Behold, Loki, Odin's son, heir and prince of Asgard."

"Right, got that."

So he really was The Loki, not just an elaborate hoax. I can't say that I wasn't surprised. I hadn't expected to ever see him again. Especially here of all places. And what was the crown prince doing sneaking around in my hotel room?

"Do you think I would really have forgotten you, Eve Caster. It has not been so long."

"Actually, it has." I retorted.

A shrug in response.

In reality, I was shocked. I really hadn't thought he'd have remembered me whatsoever. Especially when I was wearing a strong glamour like this one. Plus, It had been hundreds of years since I had met him.

"After all, It is hard to forget a granddaughter of the chieftan of The Great Light Elves of Alfheim." He smirked, seemingly proud of remembering my full title.

"Daughter of the heir's sister, you mean. My Uncle will be next to rule and his sons after him. I don't want to have anything to do with that mess of politics. If that's what you're looking for, then you should leave now."

He smiled slyly.  
"No. I come with other intentions."

It almost felt like the room got darker.

His smile faltered, and an odd expression came to his eyes. His mouth curved down a tiny bit at the ends. It seemed that he wasn't entirely pleased at whatever it was he was supposed to be doing. No doubt that being bossed around was not his thing. But who on Asgard would be commanding him? After all, he was a prince.

But then again, I hadn't heard any news from Asgard for several years. _Maybe something had happened._

"Well," he began, slowly. "To begin, there is something here, on Earth, that I need to acquire." I noticed that he was slowly approaching me hesitantly, questioningly, carefully. "Understand that I would not have come to you, were my need not desperate."

I raised my eyebrows. I still wasn't seeing how I fit into this equation.

He still held his scepter in his right hand. It was a staff with a wickedly sharp crescent blade surrounding a blue gem of some kind that was emanating power. Probably not from Earth. It was tall, and it seemed to fit perfectly into his hand. Tailor made for him I assumed. It would take a serious craftsman to make such a thing.

"You see, not all of us have superiors as kind as say, Mr. Stark. I came across mine after an, incident, with a rather horrific ending." He frowned, looking uncomfortable, "I ended up in deep space, where no other had dare venture for millennium. That was where I found Him, or more precisely, where He found me."

"Who's 'He'?" I asked.

"I dare not even speak his name. He has been gathering strength for ages, longer than most can remember. I was given the task to retrieve an object. If I succeed, I will have for myself all that I could dream of." He looked down at me into my eyes. I met his gaze. A shiver danced down my spine. They were deep with sorrow and loss, but there was also a driving fire, a constant force pushing him towards his goals.

Using whatever means necessary to get there.

"But should I fail, there will be no place in the universe where I will be safe from him." At this last part, he got very quiet. His face was grave.  
Whoever he was talking about must have some kind of terrible power that would make a god afraid.

Almost without me noticing, he had slipped a little too close to me, and now he was less than an arm's length away. "I have a plan. To get it for him." He spoke as though asking my opinion. It couldn't be his father. The way he talked about this guy made it seem like he was some seriously evil bad news.

"Why don't you help me?" he asked with a sickly sweet smile. I was about to say something really smart like, ' _how about no'_ when he stuck out his spear and touched it to my chest. It was the weirdest feeling. Like it was quickly getting foggy it the room. My arms and legs felt numb. A sharp tangy smell of magic was in the air, and my hearing went fuzzy. The worst part was, I was starting to feel sleepy. Part of me was letting go of reality and falling into the arms of the charming gentleman who was being oh so kind to me. _Except not really._ I could feel his presence attempting to fill my mind, trying to slip in. To take control. I fought as best as I could, thinking strong, fierce, mostly cursing thoughts, but in the end it was my reflexes that had saved me. I had pulled the gun out of the holster on my hip, and feeling the familiar cold metal in my hand, instinctively shot Loki in the stomach.

The fog immediately receded and I was left on my knees, feeling dizzy and clammy. Loki's face was a mask of shock and pain as he crumpled to the floor before me, making a pathetic little moaning noise.

"You, you..."

"Shot you in the stomach? Yeah. That will teach you to pull ridiculous shi-"

I stared, just a bit shocked, as the image of the fallen Loki on the ground melted away into nothing. What the-? At first I was confused by his disappearance, but a moment later, when something cold and sharp pressed into my back, I understood. An illusion. Well, if that's how he wanted to play it...

I teleported behind him, and as he turned and swung with his scepter for me, I dropped to the ground. His strike missed, and as I leapt up to my feet, I pulled out a long dagger, and put it close to his neck, holding it so that he could hardly move without being impaled. He took a breath that was a little too deep, and a bead of deep red blood ran down his neck.

"Listen. I don't know why the heck you of all people would decide to follow me, but you can bet that if you don't stop, and right now, I will kill you. I don't care who you are or who your daddy is. I never want to see your sorry face again."

With my other hand holding the gun to his head, I lowered my dagger, and motioned to the door putting a containment spell around him.  
"If that is really how you feel, then perhaps I should go," he said, just a bit sarcastically. "Though the offer still stands to assist me." He turned back towards me, a sly, playful grin on his face and took a bow.

"Yeah, don't hold your breath," I replied.  
With one final smirking grin, he vanished into thin air, breaking my charm, and leaving me in a suddenly frigid empty room, with a lingering cold feeling deep inside me. He was planning something.

But that didn't mean it was my job to find out what.

 _Okay so a really long chapter here. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!_


	3. An Old Friend

I sensed that he was gone, but I used a quick charm just to make sure. Definitely not still here. Whether or not that was a good thing was still questionable, seeing as I hadn't taken the time to interrogate him or anything.

My first order of business would have to be to call up an old friend.

My sister Aleia was just about the only person on Alfheim who knew where I really was, but I rarely talked to her any more. Most of the rest of my family and friends had thought that I had been kidnapped or killed by our constant enemies that we shared a home world with, the Dwarves, on the day after my 1020th birthday (or about 17 and a half earth age), around four years ago, immediately before I came here (making me still equal to about 17.6 years old now). Ancient mortals had sometimes thought of the Dwarves as master craftsman, but I can assure you that they are evil and twisted and they are truly a force to be reckoned with. Though they weren't nearly as civilized as my people, they have overwhelming numbers. They came to our planet in search of its widely known silver deposits, and nothing we did could make them leave. We lose many of our people to their raids and massacres, and it was easy to make myself look like another victim, especially with the help of my sister. Aleia is a hand-maiden of the Queen (who is our grandmother), and has many friends in high places. She is famous for her ability to make enchanted objects, and before I left, she had given me a bracelet that I could use to communicate with her while I was away. I sat on the bed closing my eyes, and rubbing the Alfheimian silver charm bracelet, calling her name.

Suddenly I was sitting at the desk in her personal chambers and she sat opposite me reading a large green book. The room was heated and lit by an ornately carved fireplace in the side wall, and the desk in the corner where I was sitting was close enough for me to almost feel warmer, even though I wasn't really there. The room was a familiar haven that we had grown up together in, and I was glad to see that she still lived there. She rushed over to me, but in the last second, she stopped. Her long golden hair was perfectly done up in some kind of twisty thing, and her elegant features hadn't changed in the past few months or so that I hadn't seen her. She wore an identical bracelet on her wrist.

"I forget that you are only here in spirit, sister." She smiled a little sadly. "I miss you greatly, Eve."

"I miss you too, Aleia. But I am also in urgent need of news, especially from Asgard." I spoke as formally as possible around my big sister, so that she wouldn't yell at me for "Using that poorly dictated Midgardian language" that people were so critical of in Alfheim. Everything Earth related was thought of as pitiful, poor, and dirty in the realm of the Elves.

"Asgard? Well, the entire nation has been shaken by the betrayal of Loki, Odinson."

I felt as though my blood had frozen.

 _Damn it._

"Really? What happened?" I asked, not letting my alarm show.

"Well, after trying to kill his brother, Thor, and then attempting to destroy the bi-frost, and Yodenheim with it, he fell into a black hole and is thought to be dead. The bi-frost is gone, but all Asgard does is mourn for the traitor who got them into this mess in the first place. Thor was stripped of his powers for a time and sent to Earth, but now he's fine, and I hear he is finally acting as a king should. Although there has been some rumor of a mortal-"

"Yes, I've heard that too," I cut her off. She did tend to go on gossiping for a long time if uninterrupted and this psychic connection probably wouldn't last much longer seeing as we were practically on opposite sides of the galaxy and all.

"What of our own high court?" I asked, mostly just to ward off any suspicions she might have.

"Fine. Grandfather is the same as usual. The Dark Ones continue their raids. He begins to tire in his age." She sighed. "Sometimes I wish that you were still here with me."  
It occurred to me that if I hadn't left, I probably would still be there with her. Serving the same job. Don't get me wrong, being a handmaiden to the Queen was a huge honor, and only the elite were selected for the task, but I left for a reason. I wanted to forge my own path. Make a difference in people's lives. Escape from the constant push to be emotionless and decisive. To get away from my demons.

"Sometimes I wish that I had not left." I replied, realizing that it was a small bit true. I missed my home, the palace and gardens that nothing on Earth could compare to. The buzz of a family, and the quiet nook in the hall of records where I used to sit and read while my parents worked. I had left a part of me there, I knew, and there was no way to get it back.

"You could always come home. You would be welcomed with celebration and feasting."

Ugh. Here we go again. Almost every time that I talk to her, Aleia tries to persuade me to come home. Just another reason why I stay so far out of touch.  
"You know that is false. When I left, I left with the knowledge that I would not be permitted to return home. I would be charged with treason and executed."

"No, Eve. There has been a change. A prophesy of the ancients has come to light, from the old books, and has captured the attention of the elders."

I stopped. _What?_ The Elves hardly relied upon the old books any more, as they had been drifting away for generations. The elders had never changed their habits so abruptly.

"What does the prophecy regard?"

"You know how prophecies are. It is hardly specific-"

"Tell me. I know that you know."

She never held information from me. This must be bad. _Really_ bad.

She took a breath, the kind someone takes before delivering terrible news.

"It speaks of many things in the nine realms and beyond. Of a chaos eternal. All of the realms falling into darkness, lost in the night. Of a power, a villain beyond any the universe has seen before. And a savior, what they must do and sacrifice to stop it all from ending."

She stopped and looked at me for a moment, and I was sure my expression had turned grim. Hers did.

"At the center of it all is you, little sister."

I opened my mouth in surprise.

"How do they know?"

"It says that the prophecy describes the second daughter of Rae. The likeness of the child of the prophecy so similar to yours is what convinced the elders of its truth."

"Do they yet know that I live?"

"No. But Eve-"

"Good. You mustn't tell them."

She looked like she wanted to. She opened her mouth, no doubt to argue, but I stopped her.

"Aleia. You know what they will do to me if they find me. Don't you?"  
She swallowed hard.

"I will not tell them, but you must be careful. They will search everywhere for you, and should you reveal yourself, there will be nothing that I can do to stop them."  
"Thank you. Now what are the exact words-"

She stood up, fear in her eyes.  
"Someone is coming."  
I realized the trouble that we would both be in if someone would find us, and so I closed my eyes and snapped away. 

_Another new chapter. Here you go! Thanks for reading and reviewing!_


	4. We are Young

I left the blackness to find myself back in my hotel room on the blue patterned bedspread. The icy silver bracelet on my wrist glowed with green runes, but it would probably take about six months or so to recharge before I could use it again.

 _Damn._

I stood and stretched out my arms, yawning. I'd had a long enough day traveling without all of this Loki business, and I was pretty exhausted. Especially from all of the magic that I was using to secure my room and teleport all over the place. Plus that spell I'd used on Barton.  
I collapsed on the bed and fell asleep.

Being an all powerful magic user has its perks. Light elves, instead of dreaming, have the ability to enter into what can only be described as a dream library made up of thoughts and memories that I could call on whenever I slept. I can tell you my exact thoughts from a random April a hundred and thirty years ago. Just let me take a little nap. My memory library was a personal refuge that I occasionally entered while I slept. Otherwise I would just sleep, usually without dreaming. Although lately... never mind.  
Tonight, it was easy to find the memory of the day that I met the Asgardians.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx**

The special occasion was in Asgard, about two hundred some years ago, when an embassy of my people had been sent there to discuss a new treaty of some sort, awhile before I had come to Midgard. I can clearly picture the splendor of the enchanted halls, the smiling faces of the gods as they greeted us. Two of those happened to be Loki and Thor, both about my age, standing by the side of their father, Odin, who somehow always managed to look grumpy.

Thor had a bright aura about him, a lust for battle and excitement. Loki was the picture of chivalry, and intelligence. He greeted us in our customary tongue, whereas most Asgardians would request of us to speak theirs. The gods spoke about what an odd pair of brothers the two made, but I was kept busy, never really getting the chance to talk to them. When the actual politics were discussed, I usually kept to myself in the library or on the grounds, and only attended the feasts and other events as a lady in training at my mother's side, using proper posture and eating with the proper forks and whatnot, listening intently to the conversations around me, feigning curiosity. Speaking only when spoken to, which was surprisingly often. The Asgardians were almost always pleasant and polite, eager to keep us as their allies. Although we were a proud and strict race, we were skilled in many fields, and were very secretive of our activities and developments. I was instructed to never discuss anything close to home. Never get anywhere near the secrets that had been hidden by out people for generations. Blah, blah, blah. Rules, rules, rules. So stiff. Bo-ring. You have to remember I was about 14 in mortal years (or about 814 in actual years) at the time. Quite the little princess, but readily trained in sorcery and battle. I was almost completely versed in magic, and was beginning to learn the basics of using my specific talents. I was horrible at crafting, but skilled in using weapons. Go figure.

After dinner on one of the last nights there, while the adults discussed politics, the children were allowed out in the gardens to play. I went out with a few of my brothers and boy cousins that had also come along, but was soon abandoned when the group met some young Asgardians. Among them, the young Thor. They were planning some kind of sporting game, and I, still acting a lady, opted to sit out. All of the other girls were old enough to be included in the discussion, save for one named Sif who not only played, but led a team. Soon the boys were rough-housing as I walked through the flower garden and looked at all of the delicate blossoms. I was enjoying the serenity and beauty, not to mention the lack of annoying brothers and cousins.

If only Aleia were here. She had had to stay behind because she had some kind of training. She wouldn't tell me what. Being the only two girls of a family of four brothers made us close, and she usually didn't hold back information like this.

I turned around to the sound of footsteps on the stone to see a person coming towards me taking their time and looking at the flowers. I was unconcerned because I had permission to be here as long as I didn't pick anything, and so I continued on my way.

After awhile, the figure drew closer and I saw who it was. A young Loki, about my age, maybe a tiny bit older. He walked with confidence, and seemed to be enjoying himself. His hair was dark, and his skin looked icy pale in the fading sunlight. His eyes were the same blue, and he was dressed quite simply for a prince. He came up next to me. We already knew who each other were due to the formal introductions that occurred when I arrived.

I decided to be ladylike and try to make small talk.

"These flowers are beautiful," I said, truly meaning it. The lush blossoms came in every shape and hue.

"Thank you," he said curtly, "Mother works hard on them. Although they are not the true beauty currently in this garden."

I tried not to blush. Probably failed. Pretty slick, as I am.  
"Would you allow for me to escort you back to the rest of the group?" He asked. Being a proper gentleman.  
I nodded.

"Yes. Thank you."

Lady like. Speak when spoken to. Direct conversation away from yourself. All the rules. Follow them. Or else.

"You must love living in so lively a palace." I began.

"Yes. It is quite grand. Most of the time."

"Oh?"

He frowned a bit looking for the words he wanted.

"Well, it just grows... Tiresome, sometimes. Boring if you will." It felt strange for someone to put it into words.

"Really?" I asked, inquisitively.

"Everything is formal. It is the same routine every time. Greet the guests. Make pleasant conversation. And I don't think that I even have to begin tell you about my brother."

I laughed lightly.

"Thor seems nice enough. Try having four of him."

Now it was his turn to laugh.

"I can hardly imagine."

"And I can barely live with them."

"They must be quite a lot of trouble."

"Oh, they are. One of them gets an idea and the rest go along. It's madness. All I can do is to stay out of their way."

He smiled. It was warm and pleasant. I hadn't yet been trained to sense feelings or read thoughts completely yet, but I can almost bet that it was genuine. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard.

"I know your feelings, though. I am meant to be ladylike all of the time. Follow all of the rules they make. Be exactly who they want me to be. I have to act properly and be so formal. So strict. Sometimes I just despise it all. I just want to choose my own way."

"I suppose everyone wishes to choose their own path at some point in their lives," he reasoned.

I shook my head.

"No, it is more than that. I want to make a difference. Be remembered by everyone, everywhere-" I stopped, suddenly aware of how much of myself I was giving away.

He nodded slowly. Thinking about my words.

"How do you expect to do that?"

A smile played on my lips.

"I'll find a way. I always do."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, indefinitely."

He smiled as we walked on. I stopped by a particularly pretty blue blossom, streaked with silver and white, the colors of my decorated robes. The petals spiraled out and the tendrils of color leaked onto the twisted green stem. It was breathtaking. As I looked, the stem cut itself off and the flower rose into my hand. I looked over at Loki. He bowed a bit.

"A flower for the lady."

"Won't you get into trouble?"

"Mother won't mind. There are others where that came from, though none worthy of your elegance."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

We continued on, and I held the flower in my hand. We walked side by side, still standing a painfully generous distance apart."You practice magic?" I asked, curious.

"Yes, of course. I'm rather good at it. And you?"

"A bit." The understatement of the millennia. "Well, maybe more than just a bit. I'm probably not so skilled as you." I assumed that I was probably more skilled to tell the truth. But I seldom do that.

We drew nearer to the courtyard where the rest of the boys (and Sif) were ending their game, and he gave me a low bow.  
"Your siblings await Lady Caster."

I curtsied in response.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

With a wink, he turned away, walking back to the palace. As my brothers joined me, I was shepherded back inside and to my room. The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful, and I never got to talk to Loki again.

Reviewing he information, it seemed that he said nothing of great importance, and I left my library, falling into an even deeper state of sleep.


	5. Another Day, Another Death

Because of my training, I would wake with even the smallest sounds or smells, and could be on my feet in seconds. Not so this morning. Even though I woke with the sun as usual, I took plenty of time groaning as I got out of bed. There was no immediate danger in my current position, so I took my time getting ready.

I took a shower, and washed my hair using the shampoo I brought along. (You can never trust those handy little hotel amenities, no matter how delicious they smell.)  
Then, I got dressed in a casual outfit, and sat down at the computer, and e-mailed Stark. I told him what I knew (without telling him how I found out of course). He probably wouldn't respond right away. He usually doesn't, seeing as he's busy tinkering in his workshop all day.

I went out to a cute little coffee shop on the corner and started to take the vacationing part of my time there to heart.

I spent a lovely week in St. Louis. Peaceful and blissfully free of uninvited interruption. It seemed that the SHIELD agent had left, which made me a bit suspicious, but I was careful and noticed the lack of babysitters immediately.

I went back to my cottage in the secluded mountains of Colorado, and had a few more short, easily managed missions. The winter was bitterly cold, so I spent a few weeks in the Bahamas in March.

My next big mission was in Alaska in mid-April, where apparently someone was tampering with a Stark Industries oil refinery of some sort. My job was to slip in, stop the problem, and get out, hopefully unnoticed. But then again, not everything always goes as planned. In fact it usually doesn't with me. I had been investigating the plant for a few weeks. It was run by only a few corrupt workers being paid off by an anonymous source somewhere in Russia. I didn't expect to meet much resistance, considering that the plant ran almost independently by computers, meaning that it had only those few maintenance workers. The incident occurred almost a month after my arrival, at the end of May.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I left my hotel with someone obviously following me. A grubby middle aged man, skinny as a stick, Alaskan Native it looked like. One son, no wife, lived on the outskirts of town. He was one of the rouge workers from the plant. I could tell from one look that he was not good news. He was scrawny and dirty, looking like someone who would mug you, and what was worse was that he must have been told by the boss to keep and eye on me. They must have begun to get suspicious. I switched directions to put him on the wrong path. Hopefully that would give me enough time to lose him. I rushed a bit on my way to the refinery, being dangerously inobservant, and maybe if I hadn't been, I wouldn't have ended up in such trouble in the first place. Live some (or more like almost die some), learn some.

When I arrived at the refinery I slipped in through an unlocked window on the third floor of the old stone building, up a rickety fire escape. When I had both of my feet down, I hopped inside, and closed the window behind me. Today would be the day that I hopefully reset the mainframe computer, let the system re-boot, and get rid of the virus software that had been installed by the group of rouge workers, sending any oil dredged directly to some abandoned warehouse in Russia after being refined. I made my way down the dimly lit hallway that led to the programming room in perfect silence. When I reached a dead end, I pulled open the heavy metal door to my left. I stepped inside, and without turning on the lights, crept to the far side of the room and switched on the computer. The air was stale and stuffy, and I coughed as the buttons began to light up. The Earth is so polluted. It made me gag sometimes as I remembered the cool, clean air of Alfheim.

As the system began to boot up, I heard a small noise behind me, but before I could turn, I was hit on the head, and crumpled to the floor, my vision leaving for only a moment. It was just long enough for someone (or more likely two different someones) to jump me from behind and pin me to the ground. While they held me in place, a different someone pulled my hands behind my back and slammed on a pair of handcuffs far too tightly. I immediately tried to use a spell, but felt my magic draining away from me as the words reached my lips. The handcuffs must have been some kind of a damper, draining my magic. I kept up my glamour to hide my elvish features, but other than that, I was sunk and magic less.

I stood back up, kicking one of them hard in the jaw, but before I could do much else, one of them grabbed my long ponytail, jerking me to the ground, and pointing a gun to my head.

There is almost nothing scarier than a bunch of armed, terrorist looking men surrounding you and pointing weapons at you, one of them looking extremely angry about just having been given a dislocated jaw by yours truly. Especially since I was completely stripped of weapons and magic, and my hands were bound behind me by the thick handcuffs. Of course I could try to get to my hidden weapons, but my hands were bound, and I would probably be shot before I could actually use them. To make matters worse, they were talking in rapid fire Russian, and I usually relied on magic for translation, so I was a little bit in the dark. I heard something like,  
"No others?" And the rest started hurrying away to check something out as the leader looking one made hand gestures and yelled at them all.  
When the underlings had scurried back, the leader stood and surveyed me.

He was drawn up in a long, thick winter cloak of some kind and the hood of it covered his face. The dim lighting didn't help either. He seemed somewhat normal though, except that his skin was nearly blue around his hands, which were the only thing showing from under the cloak. In fact upon further inspection, they were blue, and looking through the thin glamour the (not)man was wearing, I could see that he had two thumbs on each hand. So definitely not human then.  
"So this is the infamous Eve Caster," he leered, his voice rough and raspy.

Don't smoke, kids.

"Well, my name sure isn't Bill Gates, if that's what you're asking."

His mouth emerged from under the cloak, and he snarled, showing pointed teeth, gray and decaying behind a mask of gold. Obviously, this guy lacked on the whole hygiene thing, and to top it off, his breath smelled like he had been eating something raw. Blech.

"I don't have time deal with her lip." He told one of the men with that raspy curdled voice. "Get her to the vat."

"Pity," I replied as the group moved down the hallway. I was being half dragged by two of the men. "My sarcasm tends to be one of my better traits."

On of the men sniggered, and was cut off by a look from Mr. Boss-Man.

"You pretend to be strong little one. But I know better." His mouth curled into what could be debated as a smile, sick and twisting in front of his hideous teeth.

I jumped back.

"Without your magic I am going to kill you."

"Why?" I asked, in the most annoying way that I could.

"Because my Master doesn't want you getting in the way. He apparently thinks you dangerous."

"Well that must be quite a compliment. Remind me, who is this master guy again?"

At least if I was going to be killed, I wanted to have a good idea of who it was that wanted me dead.

And since I probably wasn't about to die, it would give me a good idea of who to go after once I handled this situation.

"Oh, and who exactly are you as well? Or would it be impolite to ask?"

I got no answer.

The handcuffs were rubbing blisters into my wrists by the time we finally made it to the center of the plant where the oil was processed.  
I was taken across a catwalk to above a massive vat of crude oil. Thick, black, and smelling worse that an apartment full of dead cats, it sat, open to the air and awaiting my imminent arrival into its depths. If it wasn't for these handcuffs, I could pull some kind of dazzling escape, or maybe even fake my death for my own amusement, but with these stifling things, I could barely hope to swim up to the top. That escape was foiled when my legs were bound with some kind of scratchy rope. Well then, no swimming, I guess. As if I wouldn't have been shot if I had tried to anyway.

My other problem was with the oil itself. Normally, being an elf and all, I have some special connections with nature that could help me out in these kinds of situations, but because oil was from within the earth, it is rightfully belonging to the Dwarves that dwell in the ground on Alfheim. I am physically unable to drown in normal water, but oil would most likely just make matters worse, suffocating me faster, sapping away my strength and energy force along with my life.

 _Great. Just great._

With my mind still racing to figure out a solution that didn't end with my demise, I was forced to the edge of the platform, above the middle of the vat, which was as tall as two floors worth of warehouse, and about half as wide, shaped like a cylinder.

The alien boss man walked up behind me and seemed to notice Aleia's charm bracelet for the first time. He took it off of my wrist and tucked it into the deep folds of his cloak. I tried to hide my impulsive sense of panic. That was the only way I had to contact my sister and it was nearly recharged, meaning I would be able to ask her for full details about the prophesy soon. He seemed to grin even more wickedly at my disdain.

"I will keep this as a token, to remember how easily the acclaimed Eve Caster fell."

Hey, at least he seemed to think I was some kind of famous person. It dawned on me that he had probably heard the full verse of prophecy, and totally thought that he knew me.

Creepy. At least he couldn't use the bracelet. It was wired to my genetic code and would not work for anyone else. Thank the gods that Aleia was such a good craftsman.  
The best I could think of was to attempt to hold my breath underneath the oil and try to get the handcuffs off. Talk about Houdini. It would be hard, but possibly, marginally doable. And my only option if I didn't want to be shot to Swiss cheese. Once out of the cuffs, I would have to try to teleport, which would be hard to do. Impossible, frankly.

 _My kind of job._

As I stood on the edge of the platform with my hands and feet tied, the head boss guy (which is his official title to me now) leaned towards me,  
"There is no way for you to escape Caster. I have made sure of this for Him."

The words reminded me of the master that Loki had spoken of. Could it be the same person?

"Who is...?"

"You think you will escape to find him, do you? I have vanquished heroes with ten times your power and still I am not as strong as my master."

He gave another creepy grin.

Man, he was pretty good at those.

"The Most Powerful of the Eternals. Thantos."

The name didn't ring a bell, but I had some bigger things to be worried about. Like not dying.

I was brought to lean over the edge of the platform and turned around to face the leader, precariously balancing.

With one final smirk, he took a step forward and looked me in the eye, as I was pushed backwards to my death into the vat.

As I predicted, I sank quickly but never hit the bottom, being consumed by the oil. It invaded my nostrils, and time seemed to slow down as my hands worked to undo the handcuffs. I could hold my breath for almost five minutes on land, but with the cuffs and oil sapping my energy, I was getting tired after only one. The bindings were big and unnecessarily bulky, made of something that scratched my skin. My flesh burned as the petroleum made contact. As I struggled, I tried to keep my eyes squeezed shut to block the foul stuff out. I somehow managed to free my feet.

At about two and a half minutes, I started to give out. If you think getting water up your nose is bad, then just imagine it with crude oil. Makes you feel bad for those ducklings on oil spill commercials.

As I ran out of breath, I attempted to flail my way back to the surface for air, guns or no guns, and I swallowed a mouthful, starting to gag, allowing more oil into my mouth and lungs. I could feel my chest grow heavy. My struggling ceased, and my consciousness floated away.

In the last moment, I felt something pulling me in a sort of sideways direction. Maybe I just imagined it. But then I was gone.

 _Well, another day, another assassination attempt. The creepy boss guy btw is the Other, from the beginning of The Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy. I don't think it says that. Oh well. Just gonna leave these here, totally unedited. Thanks for reading and reviewing (:_


	6. Headache

When I woke up, I was lying on a hard, frozen, cement floor. It was quiet. I could barely breathe, and was incredibly nauseous, still covered in oil. I was freezing cold, steam rising off my body, curling into a strange mist that clouded my eyes. The petroleum was still burning my skin, though the handcuffs were off of my wrists, and I was lying on my side, almost curled into a ball. I felt dizzy and disoriented. My vision was incredibly fuzzy, and I was so weak that when I tried to sit up, I didn't even move. In my blurred vision, I could see something greenish, and as my hearing came better into focus, I could hear someone muttering something, maybe a spell.

"A little late." I said, my voice coming out too soft and mumbly. With every word and breath, my lungs and throat burned like wildfire.

A small laugh came from my healer.

"Hush." A soft, cold finger came out of the blur and touched my forehead, and I instantly fell into the darkness that was becoming a little too familiar.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

When I woke up, I was in the same place as before, but I felt _much_ better. I was clean and dry, and I didn't hurt as badly as I had previously, even though it was still pretty rough. As I tried to sit up, I found that I could, even though it wasn't easy. My wrists were rubbed raw from the handcuffs and burned from the oil, looking like I would have scars when they healed. The rest of my skin was miraculously intact. I was in some kind of warehouse that reeked of fish, barely lit by lights that hung from the ceiling. The high windows along the top of the room showed me it was dark, and that I must have been out cold for hours.

A shadow rose from the corner, and began coming towards me. I stood up on shaky legs to meet him, still barely able to breathe. I hoped that this encounter wouldn't end like the last, because I barely had enough energy to talk, much less fight.

Loki sauntered over. Even though his hands were empty, I figured that he probably wasn't unarmed. Meanwhile, my weapons had been stripped from me by the Russians, and even my concealed ones had been removed. Presumably by him.

"Looking for these?" He held out two of my long, skinny daggers that had been hidden in my tall winter boots. "I couldn't have you trying to kill me while I healed you."

He spun them around in his hands and offered them to me by the hilts. I hesitantly took them from him, and put them away silently.

"What, no thanks for saving your life?"

"Saving one life doesn't compensate for destroying another." I replied smoothly, though my throat still hurt.

I, of course, was referring to that time when he nearly destroyed all of Yodenheim. And he knew. I could see it in his eyes.

He gave me a pained expression.

"It takes a killer to know a killer."

"Don't try to change the subject. I had that totally under control. It was none of your business -"

"To stop them from killing you? I suppose it wasn't. But then again, you might be able to say that you now owe me." I gave him an angry, disbelieving look. My head throbbed in rhythm with my racing heart.

"Well what can I do to stop that?" I asked imprudently, immediately regretting opening my mouth.

He grinned slyly, stepping a hair closer.

"I don't think you would want to hear my first choice." He said somewhat seriously. "Or even my second one for that matter."

"Nice try," I grimaced, arms still almost too sore to move. "But seriously, I'm not a damsel in distress. I can handle myself."

"Is that why you left?"

"What?"

"Why you left. You could've had a good life. Been important. Respected. Loved. Why would you leave? I've been pondering it for some time. And trust me, I know it wasn't just because of your overbearing sister."

"My sister and I were best friends, thank you very much. I think you'd find the same of your brother."

"Leave him out of this. He is nothing. A fool, drunk with power. I am the rightful king of Asgard. Someday I will rule." His words were snarled, taking me aback.

"That's not what I've heard."

Apparently I'd hit a soft spot. I got a nasty glare.

"My destiny is of no importance to you, daughter of Alfheim."

 _Touchy subject._

"Then neither is mine, or my reason for leaving."

I gave him a pointed look. _You don't tell me, I don't tell you. Be that way._

I still couldn't read his thoughts. He was blocking me, I could tell for sure this time. He had put up carefully guarded defenses that I wouldn't be able to break, considering how weak I was. I could hardly stand.

In fact, my legs were melting underneath me.

"You need to sit down. You look-"

I kind of interrupted him by falling. My knees buckled, and my face went straight for the floor. I felt two sturdy hands reach out and steady me. The world was spinning. I looked up, and suddenly saw that I was right next to Loki's face, gazing into his unfathomable eyes. His expression was concerned.

I was confused by him. Very much so. It did not help my head. He had just saved my life, but on the other hand, he had nearly destroyed an entire race. Tried to kill his own brother and father. But at the time, I was too weak to argue. I was only standing with his help, and every part of me ached, from head to foot.

Especially the head part.

"Sorry." I mumbled. "I really didn't expect near death to be this painful."

He laughed. It wasn't one of those false sounding chuckles of mockery, but a brief outburst of happiness. It was cut short. Even in my delirious state, I could tell that it wasn't good news.

"There it is again." I said.

"What?"

"You're trying so hard to stop yourself from happiness. Don't try to lie, I can see it."

His frown returned. His eyes were full of anxiety.

"Eve. Do you know why those men were trying to kill you?"

I nodded, and immediately regretted it because of the way it made my head spin.

"They said something about a master that didn't want me to get in the way. I think something is about to happen."

"Then maybe you should stay out of it."

I gave a weak smile. He would have to try harder if he wanted to fool me.

"As if I could do that even if I wanted to. You know something. Out with it. Stop trying to protect me. I can handle myself," I insisted.  
"As you have proven today."

He gave a slight smile.

"Oh shut up." I told him, "There are exceptions to every rule."

"Not to all of them, I'm afraid."

"Stop. I can tell that you know something."

"Telling you will do nothing but put you in harm's way."

"Um, I was very nearly just murdered. I'm pretty sure that that's as far in harm's way as it gets."

"No, there's more danger here then you know. He is always watching."

I groaned. My headache was getting much worse.

"All of this 'the master is watching us' crap is ridiculous. You know, either way, I'm going to find out, so you might as well tell me."

He sighed.

"Stop while you still can. If he learns any more of you, he will be certain to kill you himself. Do you think that your life will mean anything to someone like him? Someone who kills entire races without a thought? Do yourself a favor and stay away."

"And why would you care?"

He seemed momentarily surprised, almost at himself, then carefully molded his expression into one of nonchalance.

"I don't. Just stop meddling,"

His words were heavy, and I could hardly wrap my slowly fading thoughts around them. So I did the natural thing and kept right on protesting.

"I need to know!"

He looked into my eyes and smiled a small melancholy smile. His eyes were an icy blue, and they looked a little sadder and older than they had the last time I had seen him.  
My head spun. Heart drumming in my ears. Still standing just barely too close to him, his strong arms holding me up. He smelled like sage and magic and something else I couldn't pinpoint, but was familiar. I was so tired. All of my energy was gone, and I felt like I was going to faint again. Then he spoke.

"I think that what you need most right now is sleep."

"Oh no, not-"

"Sweet dreams."

The last thing I saw was a his beautiful, broken face, smiling down at me.

Then nothing but black.


	7. Playing Pretend

I woke up a few hours later. At least according to the hotel alarm clock. This base wasn't nearly as nice as most, and chilly from drafty windows and a leaky old roof. Still, I was glad to just be alive. Somehow, I'd ended up back in this old dingy place where I'd started out. No sign of anyone else. Even my usually simple detection spell was extremely difficult to perform, and I could feel that a lot of my magic had faded away, and would take a while to come back.

Just what I needed. Great.

My thoughts turned to Loki. A mad man turned savior. Why would he have bothered to rescue me? Even if he really cared about my life, why? I was nothing more than a runaway, seeking something to do. What could he see in me? Not to mention that he was the god of tricks and mischief, and had recently tried to destroy a whole world and betray his family.

I especially hated his ability for magic that might possibly be stronger than my own. I can't stand it when other people are better at something than I am, in any field.  
Forget it. I should just stop bothering myself with such nonsense.

I rolled off of the couch, going to the cabinet and pulling out a can of sardines. I was starving. The sardines were bland and fishy, but I managed to choke them down with a crap ton of salt and some stale crackers. Rural Alaska. Gotta love it. Plus, I didn't dare leave my room. If I was thought to be dead, it was to my advantage, and even without much magic, it would make my mission easier.

That afternoon I finished what I started by taking back the refinery. Those men must have regretted ever messing with me. I turned them in to the authorities while pretending to be a state trooper, but the leader was long gone, almost as if he had never existed. Still in a stewing mood, I went back to my crappy hotel and caught the first flight home.

I was always uneasy about riding airplanes, especially since I had crash landed one into the Delaware River a few years ago. It was an emergency. But hey, who doesn't love being crammed into a huge, flying tin can full of strangers with only the consolation of a bag of peanuts? The plane ride was boring, and after getting through three tabloid magazines, we finally landed. I was extra careful to make sure I wasn't being watched. I picked up my bags, and teleported home.

Once settled back into my solitary little house just outside of Denver, I took the time to think about everything.

I despised Loki. Psychopath and mass murderer weren't exactly my top traits to look for in a person, even if they were kind of hot. But he had always been kind to me and had had just saved my life. Plus, I wasn't exactly innocent of those charges myself.

These thoughts would chase themselves around in my head for several weeks to no avail. Meanwhile, my magic grew stronger again at an astounding rate.  
Once, in May, feeling particularly bad for myself about my dilemma, I flipped on the news. The things that you Earth people are worried about are so silly. Traffic jams, weather problems, keeping the elderly cool in what promised to be a steaming hot summer... Then I saw something that might be serious. The pretty blond news lady started talking about a breaking news story unfolding in Arizona. (Which to my extent of earth geography knowledge was one of the funny shaped ones in the corner).

Apparently a giant Earthquake had occurred in the desert, triggering a massive sinkhole in the ground. The news channel was still waiting for more news and a count of injured and/or dead, and the Anchor asked us to stay tuned while the channel cut to commercial. That location... In the middle of the desert.. I had it. A top secret SHIELD research facility. I had been assigned to do work there a year or so ago. Why would that collapse and cause a sinkhole? I hoped it didn't have anything to do with Tony and his Iron Man program, but it was about three in the morning in New York. With a moment of hesitation, I called anyway. No one picked up. Booting up my laptop, I used Stark Industries info on SHIELD R&D facilities to find out what the base had been used for. Apparently, the main project being operated on premises was research on an object that was called the Tesseract. I had never heard of the thing before, but the document told me at least a little of what I needed to know to put together a picture of what might have really happened. I learned that it was a highly unstable energy source that was being currently researched by a man named Dr. Erik Selvig. It had extremely tight security, and the program was meant to attempt to tap into the energy to use it as a power source. It entailed some pretty fancy kinds of science and physics that took a little while for me to figure out. Based on that, and the information on the news, I concluded that something must have destabilized the cube, and set off an explosion, causing the hidden underground part of the base to collapse in on itself. I hoped that not too many people had died.

I looked up from my laptop to the news back on the TV.

An air view from the scene showed a helicopter being shot with blue light and exploding, crashing into the ground with a deafening roar as a man leapt out. A truck drove away in the opposite direction of the sinkhole. The camera stayed focused on the helicopter, but I could just make out the corner of the truck as it sped away. And you're not gonna guess who was sitting in the back.

I went to bed that night, thinking that Arizona is not at all that far from Colordo, and I set up an extra thick layer of magical protection before I fell asleep. Like I mentioned earlier, I usually get up and start my day with the sun, but today, I was woken up even before dawn by my phone's buzzing on the bedside table. I recognized the number as Tony's and picked up.

"Hullo?" I mumbled groggily.

"Eve?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Did you hear about the earthquake on the news?"

"Yeah." I got out of bed flipping on the lights, and helped myself to some orange juice. I love orange juice. And oranges in general. Didn't have those at home.

"Well it turns out that it wasn't natural at all. It was a collapsing portal to space. Guess who came in through that portal?"

I groaned.

"Loki, that's who." He replied, too quickly for me to answer.

"And he took something that doesn't belong to him. I'm sending you the details now. Any questions, call me. I should be here most of the time today. We're finally lighting up Stark Tower this weekend."

"Oh, tell Pepper congratulations on that. I know she worked really hard for it."

"And none for me?"

"Hey, it was all her idea."

"I see your point. Let me know if anything else goes down."

"Ten-four."

I hung up and checked my email. As promised the new file was attached giving me details on the Tesseract, and what had happened last night. It looked like my prediction was only a bit off. Loki came through a portal made by the Tesseract, but the unstable portal collapsed in on itself, taking down the facility. That's were the weirdness started. The files of several SHIELD Agents and NASA scientists were in the document, including Agent Barton, and the report showed their status to say "compromised."  
According to eyewitness account, they had been "Possessed by Loki", after having been touched by his spear. Sound familiar? Well it should.

If I had been possessed... I shuddered at the thought. It seemed like whatever he had been planning had started.

The day dragged on. I went to the grocery store and got some food (anything but more sardines). I watched old TV show re-runs. Around six, I got another call from Stark.

"Hello?"

"I've just gotten a visit from our favorite SHIELD Agent."

"Fury?"

"Coulson. Remember that Avengers project that they were talking about last year?"

"How could I forget?"

"It's happening. Now. And I'm apparently invited this time."

"Good for you."

I could practically see his eyes rolling over the phone. He hadn't taken it lightly when he had been rejected from the program.

"Apparently we're going to meet up. Kick some ass take some names. That kind of stuff. I want someone to be there watching over things for me. A guardian angel if you will. That's where you come in." It sounded like he was packing on the other end.

"I'm listening."

"For the next probably a week or so, you're going to be a SHIELD agent."

Our plan was simple. Agents from everywhere were assembling together to man the main vessel that we would be traveling on. It would be easy to slip in under a fake name. Given a job in security and nearly full access to the entire ship, I'd change my appearance slightly as to not be recognized. I would have to be more focused on this mission than I had been on my last when I had almost died. Be better at everything actually. From my acting skills, to my fighting, I would have to improve it all since I was about to put myself in harm's way. Again. The story of my life.

After packing up my things to prepare for teleporting, I dumped the milk down the sink, and locked the front door. I got the sense that I wouldn't be back for awhile.  
Being sure to hold my bags tightly, I closed my eyes and focused, and with a jerk, and a dizzying moment of free fall, I landed at the end of the block from where the ship was docked. A massive aircraft carrier on the outside, apparently with some special modifications though. Like it could fly. Plus some. At the end of the gang plank, a security officer waited as a line of people prepared to enter. For each person, he checked IDs and even did a retinal scan for maximum security. I was prepared. Security specialist Madelyn Pacific, high level clearance. My disguise was comprised of a thick scar running across my right cheek and eye, as well as more dirty blonde color to my hair. I even gave myself a light Northern accent. I passed perfectly, and was given directions to my personal cabin as well as my office where I would monitor security.  
I made it to my cabin without difficulty, putting down my things in the small trunk, and barely glancing at the bunk bed that lined the wall.

Next, I walked down a few hallways, trying not to get lost, then went to the security office and proceeded to be amazed. There were hundreds of cameras throughout the ship, and each was high-tech and expensive, equipped with microphones that could listen in to conversations. In many of the screens, people were rushing about, getting ready with last minute preparations. Not only would I have to monitor the cameras, but I was also in charge of a couple dozen security officers, and all other secure holding areas full of all kinds of tech and other secrets. I would be kept very busy. There was a cramped and stiff fold out bunk on the wall, and I hoped I wouldn't need to stay overnight too often. I would be here for most of the time, but I couldn't use magic, at least not excessively, lest I give myself away. In that case, I was surrounded by hundreds of the most highly skilled agents in the world. Escape would be difficult at best. And I'd probably have to leave the planet, which would be a pain.

An bell rang somewhere, and the boat shoved off.

An hour or so later, a knock came at the door. I opened it cautiously, worried that it might be someone coming to arrest me.

Outside stood an anxious looking agent. She had her brown hair pulled up into a tight bun, and wearing an officer's uniform.

She stepped into the room without invitation and offered a hand, which I shook. In her head, she was nervous, but excited and felt just a little bit guilty. Digging deeper, I learned that she felt that it was somewhat her fault that Loki had gotten away at the base. She knew how to put the past behind her though, and was prepared to never let that happen again. Next time she got a shot at him, he was a dead man. Or god. Whatever.

"Special Agent Maria Hill."

"Agent Madelyn Pacific, head of security."

She nodded.

"I was sent by Director Fury with special directions."

I made myself another mental note to avoid him.

"He requested extra protection on cargo hold 10. No one goes in no matter who they are."

"Alright, I'll add an extra watch in that corridor." I replied, making a note in my log.

"Thanks." She left quickly.

About ten minutes later, I had my security crew meet together in the large hallway outside my office. A group of thirty-two able bodied men stood in front of me at perfect attention in two lines. I paced in front of them with my arms crossed as I began.

"You're here because you're supposed to be the best in the business. Well, I'm here to tell you that I don't care. As long as you are on this ship, until someone tells you otherwise, you are completely and totally under my command. You will listen to every order I give you, or so help me, I will have your carcass thrown off this ship faster than you can mumble an undoubtedly sincere apology. Do you understand me?"

There was a general nod and mumble of understanding.

"Good. Now that that's out of the way, I have some special instructions. Number one. We will have a special watch at cargo hold 10. No one will be permitted in without written orders from Director Fury. No matter who they are. I don't care if Spiderman shows up. No one means no one. Next. And this is a special order directly from me, mind you. Keep your noses out of anything and everything, especially from the labs. One whisper of any sensitive information in your head, and you will have to be dealt with. To say the very least, it will not be your idea of a good time."

One of them, a rookie by the last name of Todd was beginning to look nervous. I was on a roll.

"Finally, should we take any prisoners, you are to treat them like a live bomb. Some of the people we are up against are extremely dangerous, and will not hesitate to kill you if they see an opening."

They looked serious. Their expressions were stiff, but they were all willing to do whatever it took to keep us safe. Serving their country and doing their job made them proud.  
"Gentlemen, from this point onward, you are the wallpaper. Do not get in anyone's way. Do not speak unless spoken to. Don't even move without good reason. You are the first and last line of defense on this ship, and it is your duty to keep it and everyone on it safe. All suspicious activity will be reported directly to me immediately. Any questions?" None.

I knew now, looking at their feelings that they would follow my orders to a tee. They were good men, and they would defend the ship with their lives if it came to it. I hoped it wouldn't, but I feared for the worst.

"Dismissed!"

The men began to file out to their stations.

The first few days on open ocean went well. The ship was so big that only those with the most sensitive stomachs got seasick. I was kept busy checking clearances as more people boarded by jet and helicopter. I monitored cameras, and checked on the guards doing their rounds. Whatever was going to happen was big, judging by the worry on the faces of the supervising officers.

When we finally received the last of the cargo by plane, we were in the middle of the Atlantic, miles away from any other ships or islands. We finally lifted off, and made it successfully into the air. With fewer things coming in, I would finally have time to take a break every now and then.

Looking behind me at the security monitors, I saw that Captain America had reached the bridge, and was talking to Director Fury. Dr. Banner was with them, along with a bright red headed Agent Romanoff who was wandering around the deck looking at computer screens. She had seemed a little lost ever since Agent Barton had been compromised, and she was constantly worried about him. She was also extremely angry with Loki. She wasn't the kind to lash out in anger though. Oh no. She would quietly plot and plan to take him down, to stop him and kill him.

And anyone else who got in her way.

On a lighter note, the Captain seemed amazed by everything on deck, and I could understand why. The guy had been frozen solid for 70 years, and when he had woken up, the world had moved on without him. It was pretty much a completely new planet. Probably even worse than what I had experienced when I arrived here for the first time, considering I had been hearing stories about the earth and its inhabitants for years.

They talked for awhile longer as I debated on whether or not to turn on the mics to hear what they were saying. I knew that I was being recorded though, and I didn't want to draw any attention to myself by breaking protocol by activating the mics without good reason. Plus, since I wasn't actually a security expert, it would take me a little longer to figure out how exactly to do it.

Before I could find a way to get around the rules, Romanoff and Banner walked out, heading to the labs where he would be working. I assumed that they hadn't told him about the specially built cell in the center of he ship.

When Director Fury had decided to allow Banner on board, he insisted of taking the precaution of installing a cell in the center of the ship. Made of tempered steel and doubly reinforced glass, the careful design allowed the cell, and the inmate inside, to drop from the ship at any sign of trouble or attempted escape. It was an ingenious contraption, built specifically in case Doctor Banner should, well, get angry, and transform into his raging alter ego, The Hulk. The cage would hopefully contain him, and then eject him from the ship. Possibly killing him. Although, I didn't think so. From what I had read, the crash wouldn't stop the beast. It was too powerful. If I was the doctor I would not be happy that something like that cage had my name on it. In fact I would be angry. A luxury that Dr. Banner could not afford.

The bridge was working effectively and we were officially up in the air. With retro-reflection panels in full operation, we were invisible to almost everyone below us. I checked the monitors again. Doctor Banner was in his lab, mostly just unpacking stock materials and checking things on the large computer monitors. He almost always looked nervous or worried, and I couldn't blame him. There were hundreds, if not thousands of people on this ship. One wrong move, and it would all come crashing out of the sky like in those sci-fi movies. And it would be all his fault.

The captain stayed on the bridge and talked to the crew about the ship. I took a short break, and patrolled, checking on my men and stopping by the mess hall to grab a tray of food that I took back to my cabin an ate quietly. It wasn't even too bad, for being military cuisine, although the chef was a bit rude.

Back in my cabin, I watched the cameras as everyone went about their daily work. There were engineers and mechanics in the engine room checking diagrams and taking measurements. The crew on the bridge was doing various tasks, from steering to running a face trace on all of the missing agents and Loki. I double checked the hallway outside of the cargo bay that I was asked to put an extra guard on. It looked easy enough to get into if I waited until the guards changed shifts, but then again, it would probably set off an alarm, and I would blow my cover. I would just have to wait for Tony to get here and hack the database. It was all part of his plan.

Suddenly, I could hear an alarm faintly beeping from somewhere in the ship. Looking at the screens, I saw a sudden shuffle of movement on the bridge.

They found him.

A team was to be sent out to Germany to capture him before he could do any more harm, and I was itching to leave, but going now would cause suspicion, even if I was helping. Besides, Stark would be here soon, and I had little time to prepare. I watched the cameras as the crew of several officers as well as Captain America and Black Widow. It wasn't much, but somehow they expected to stop Loki before he did any damage. I didn't doubt their firepower, but seeing as the first time I had noticed him on Earth was in Stuttgart, he was probably beginning to put his plan into action. I decided to call Stark and warn him.

He picked up on the first ring.

"Is this line secure?" He asked before even saying hello.

"Yes. It's the one you gave me."

"Good. I just got a call from SHIELD."

"I know. I just wanted to warn you."

"About what?"

I hesitated for a minute before I answered.

"When I was looking for Loki this winter, I didn't find him. He found me. In Stuttgart."

"Is this the confession of love that I've been waiting for? I so, you owe me a fifty," He said, seriously. I rolled my eyes.

"Ha-ha, no. But he's been there before. This is bigger than you think. He's been planning this out for months."

"Alright. What's the scheme?"

"I'm not completely sure, but he's not one for straight out force. He's going to try to be clever, taking us by surprise."

"The god of trickery. Just what we needed. What's his kryptonite then?"

"He's a showoff. If he really wants to take over the world, he's going to do it so that everyone can watch him."

"Admirable. Are we prepped at your end?"

"Ready and waiting."

"Alright, roger that, sailor."

He hung up. I passed the remaining time working on all kinds of things for the ship. I even tried reading some of Selvig's notes. All it did was make me sleepy though. All this technology and stuff was a little out of my element. Just give me some spells or runes any day.

A few hours later, I got a call in from the bridge. Apparently, after a fight in a town square, Loki had stood down. I was immediately on guard. It was completely against his egotistic attitude to be captured, unless... It was all part of his plan. They had actually captured him, and now he was on his way here. To the center of operations opposing him. Right to where every single one of the world's best agents was. Right to me.

The man on the phone gave me the password to a live feed from the transport vehicle. I watched as the prisoner was handcuffed and led into the jet. I could see flashing lights in the background, and could hear sirens. I even saw a news crew reporting, which gave me an idea. I booted up my personal laptop, and checked the news for the damage. A ginger reporter on the German news was on site, describing the unfolding events.

"Now, it appears that there were two separate parts to this operation." He explained. "First, one suspect went around to the scientific research center. This is where the casualties occurred to three of the security personnel. We are still waiting for a full coroner's report. Following that, the main suspect entered the banquet. The suspect is reported violently attacking two people. Based on eyewitnesses, he continued to outside the building and stopped a crowd of people, blowing up a police cruiser. We have reports that the second group stole a large amount of iridium, found in asteroids. They are reported to be professionals, and are still on the loose. The main suspect has been apprehended by authorities. Here's what the eyewitnesses have to say."

The reports kept running, but I no longer had a visual on the transport. It seemed like they had interference on their end. Maybe a thunderstorm. I wasn't worried.  
Probably should've been, but I was exhausted. I decided I wanted to be well rested if Loki really was coming. I set an alarm for my phone, and took a quick nap.  
By the time I woke up, they were twenty minutes away. I gathered a group of my best men, and got them ready. When the transport arrived, they were suited in bulletproof armor and helmets, and were outfitted with enough guns for the whole US Army. They would be the escort as they brought Loki through the interior of the ship to the cage originally made for the Hulk. Once prepped, I left the men to meet the jet. I couldn't risk him recognizing me. Plus I wanted to avoid Nick Fury for as long as possible before I had to confront him.

Back at the security room, I watched the monitors as Loki was led through the body of the ship. He seemed perfectly at ease, almost as much as he was on that night in the flower garden, but I could tell he wasn't. It was the small things, the weariness in his eyes, the too perfect smirk. He was nervous. Not to most people, but to me. His plan was going to be devastating, and I would have to try to stop it at the source, which was him.  
When he arrived in his cell, I opened the recording mic, and sent the video to the bridge as directed. I kept watching as Director Fury entered and began to talk in the commanding way that he always does.

"In case it's unclear, you try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass..."

Fury hit a button on the console and the bay doors opened, revealing nothing but open sky, and a distant Europe below.

"30,000 feet straight down, in a steel trap. You get how that works?" He was practically screaming to be heard over the howling winds of the chamber.

He closed the doors.

"Ant... Boot."

Loki did nothing but chuckle, a sarcastic sound, not at all the way he had sounded when I had previously met him.

"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh, I've heard. A mindless beast makes play he's still a man."

Loki paused for a moment, almost like he was trying to dramatically deliver his lines in a play.

"How desperate are you that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh." Loki scoffed. "It burns you to have come so close. To have the tesseract. To have power. Unlimited. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is."

Fury began to walk away, his black coat flowing behind him.

"Well let me know if real power wants a magazine or something."

I closed the program as I contemplated his words, watching him smile after Fury and begin to pace. It seemed like he needed a reminder of what real power was. And luckily for him, I was there to give it.

 _Here's another long chapter. Yep. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing!_


	8. Falling Hard

I teleported directly into the cell, careful to cancel out the cameras with magic, editing my glamour to my usual appearance.

When I arrived, he was pacing anxiously, and didn't notice me. Or pretended not to.

"So. You're really going through with it, then?"

He turned around, wearing a small frown, and he seemed almost tormented, with circles under his eyes, and his body full of nervous tension. He was on edge, but it probably didn't feel so great in the glass cage.

 _Or maybe it was something else._

"I thought I told you to stay away."

"I don't take orders from just anybody," I replied.

He smiled a bit.

"Well, I'm not just anybody, you know."

"I do. You constantly try to prove it with world domination."

And the frown came back.

"I can't let you do this," I told him.

"You sound like my brother," he scoffed, not very nicely.

"Then maybe he's smarter than you think," I retorted.

He sighed. "You're impossible."

"You're making me that way."

"Believe me it was an accident."

We were both smiling.

I quickly hid it. I had to stop him, not do... Whatever this was.

"Don't you think this world could be better?"

His question caught me by surprise. It was totally off topic.

"Well, maybe. What do you mean?" I asked, unsure of his intent.

"I could make it better, If I were to rule-"

"No. You can't be serious. Haven't you read any Earth history books? There is no ruling. No man can claim to stand above another. That's what they all say. Dozens have tried. They all fail. And usually die painfully. Seriously. Ever heard of Hitler? Hannibal? Mussolini? And, mortals have rules to stop that from happening. They all say it: ' _All men are created equal_ '."

He gave me an uncomprehending stare.

"I am no mortal man."

"It's the concept that counts."

"What concept? That no one superior can claim to be so?"

"No. That they can't control for their own purposes. They can't claim to rule over anyone else. Don't lie to me and tell me that that's not your intent. You want to see this world bow before you."

"And you do not wish the same?"

Deep down maybe I did, at first. See that the horrible people were put to justice, and the world meet its full potential. _But could one person do that?_

 _No way in hel._

"No, I don't. Even if the way the humans govern is useless, it is still more just than what one sole ruler would be. Why must you threaten the planet that I protect? Is any other realm not good enough for you?"

"Eve, this is not only about the Earth. The Tesseract is here, and it is my first priority to see that it is secured for my Master."

There it was again. The master needed the Tesseract, and Loki's prize for bringing it to him was the Earth, if he could win it. Things were coming together. I knew at least part of his plan, and I could base the rest on whatever the other heroes had discovered. I only needed a bit more intel, and I could head back.

"So this main battle to win you the Earth, it's going to happen where?"

"Do you honestly think that I would-"

I held up a finger for silence, and strode to the far end of the cage.

I detected a new presence on the way into the room. I left myself invisible and muted to the microphones and everyone outside the cage, but returned Loki to normal.

"Agent Romanoff's here to visit you. I think I'll stick around and watch," I told him. He continued to pace as though he hadn't heard me. He gave me a strong look, as if he was telling me to leave. Too bad for him. I would be staying here.

As he turned away from the entrance, Black Widow slipped in, as agile as a cat. Although she was good, she was only human.

 _I would've done better._

As she stood, he turned around, the strange, unfamiliar smile back on his face.

"There's not many people who can sneak up on me."

"And what, I just happen to be one of them?" I asked. He couldn't even so much as look at me without breaking character. Fun.

"But you figured I'd come." She told him, being serious. She was here for another reason.

"After-after whatever tortures Fury could concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I'd cooperate." Loki responded.

"As if." I told him. Cooperating would be completely out of his character. Unless it benefited him, of course.

After a moment's pause, Agent Romanoff continued.

"I wanna know what you've done to Agent Barton."

I turned to face Loki.

"I'd say I've expanded his mind," he replied.

"Cause that's not creepy."

Romanoff continued, "And once you've won. Once you're king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?"

"Is this Love, Agent Romanoff?"

He made it sound like a taunt.

"Love is for children, I owe him a debt."

She sounded indifferent, uncaring, but inside, her rage for Loki was rising. And she worked her best when she was angry.

"Tell me."

She pulled up a chair and sat.

"Oh great job. Now I have to listen to another sob story." I told him.

She took a breath and began.

"Before I worked for SHIELD, I uh...well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for. Or on. I got on SHIELD's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me. He made a different call."

"Now that is adorable. True love if I ever saw it," I said to myself. This comment finally got his attention, and I received a kind of bemused look from the corner of his eye.

"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" He asked. I honestly didn't know the answer. What was she willing to do for Hawkeye?

"Not let you out," she responded, quickly.

"Oh no, but I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"

"Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that. I'm Russian. Or was."

"And what are you now?"

I stayed quiet, not wanting to disrupt the tense conversation.

"It's really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out."

"Can you?" He practically snarled.

"Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter. Sao Paulo. The hospital fire? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, its GUSHING red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality, a child at prayer. PATHETIC! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will NEVER go away."

Black Widow stepped back, a shocked expression growing on her face as Loki continued. He slammed on the glass. It took all I had not to jump.

"I won't touch Barton, not until I have him kill you. Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear. Then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull. THIS is my bargain you mewling quim."

This was a new Loki. Not the charming and clever one I was used to, but a monster, the one who destroyed worlds and ripped families apart. The one with no mercy. And it scared me, worse than anything else I had ever seen. Actually, scratch that. The wendigo was pretty bad too.

Although Agent Romanoff wore a horrified expression, and had turned away from the glass, she was not scared. More like disgusted, angered by his viciousness. She was cool and collected, although she practically whimpered. She had been told worse things before, and besides, this was all part of her plan.

"You're a monster." She barely whispered.

Loki laughed in with an inhuman voice. "Oh no, you brought the monster." Her plan clicked together. The penny dropped.

Black Widow stood up straight, and held her head high, too cool to even smirk. "So. Banner. That's your play."

His devilish grin slipped from his face.

"What?"

But there was no amount of lying that could get him out of this one.

She spoke into her com.

"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor in as well."

Agent Romanoff started to walk away. She turned back towards the cage.

"Thank you. For your cooperation."

By then I was nearly laughing. I was beginning to like Black Widow. I put the concealment spell back up, and turned to Loki, smiling. He didn't seem concerned that they knew his plan.

"You're not worried?" I asked him. Even _I_ was worried.

Not for him, I mean.

 _Obviously_.

"No, it doesn't matter. Banner will break, and this might have just sped it along."

"How do you know?"

"Because everyone does eventually," he stated simply.

"Everyone?" I asked.

"Yes, everyone."

"And what exactly makes you the expert on this?"

He shrugged.

"I just have a knack for destruction, I suppose."

"So you want to be king to...What exactly? Destroy? Manipulate?"

He looked me in the eye, and gave a melancholy smile.

"At first, no."

"Then what?" I asked, suddenly curious

"I thought... I could make peace. I could rule wisely. Like I thought my father did."

He stopped for a minute, and his voice suddenly turned bitter.

"But that was never to be. Thor would have the throne. Always. From the day I was born, I was cast aside like nothing."

"But that didn't mean you had to do this."

"I had to prove myself. That I was worthy to rule. Eve, this isn't what you think it is."

"You say that this is bigger. But its not. It's all about you. You're in trouble. If you would just _tell me_ , I could help."

He sighed, a long and low breath.

"You can't. Even I can't."

"Why?"

He looked me straight in the eyes. It was almost as though he knew that he would break if he told me.

I softened my gaze.

"It's okay. You can trust me."

" _Can I_?" He lashed back, stunning me. "I used to be able to trust. To love. But now..."

He stopped. There was a long moment of silence as I could see he was struggling with himself, trying to figure out what to say. Gone was the god, sure of his words, cunning and quick. Finally, he seemed to find something.

"Perhaps I could have been good. Once upon a time, as the mortals say. But now..."

He trailed off. Looking at him, I did see a king. A forsaken leader. Sitting on a throne of lies, with a crown of darkness, given to him by his father. I saw what he could have been, what he should have been, not this sad creature, killing for the fun of it, fighting his own brother, endangering the lives of billions.

He was meant to be a kind and bright ruler, a golden king, leading his people to prosperity. I might not have been able to read his mind, but I almost didn't need to. I could see the sadness in his eyes, in every line of his face.

I could see how he had been broken, piece by piece until it all fell apart when he had learned the truth, that he would never be a king.

That it was inevitable. And the small tricks grew as his rage did, consuming him until he was gone.

The worst part was that I could have stopped this. I could have fixed him.

I could have.

It stole my heart.

 _And he knew._

His face was despondent.

"But now, I'm the villain."

He seemed like he was assuring himself, trying to accept the tragedy.

There was so much more that I felt I had lost now. There was a reason. I could not stop him, not heartlessly.

There was more to say. But no time to say it. I would be noticed missing from my post soon, and that was something that I couldn't risk.

Still holding his gaze, I finally spoke, sighing.

"Then why do I still care for you?"

His eyes changed in just the smallest way, almost in surprise, but before he could say anything, I had vanished.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I took the spell off as I teleported back to my cabin. I still had five minutes left of my break, so I headed back to the mess and grabbed a plate of food, bringing it back to my room, not the office. I stewed. Maybe Banner would snap, but it seemed like he had a pretty good lid on it, and I seriously doubted that anything would happen anytime soon. Either way, the ship was full of the best agents in the planet. We would be able to handle it without too much trouble. I mean, that's what the cage was for, right? My problems with Loki would just have to resolve themselves, because I would not deal with them right now. Or ever.

As I was eating, I thought about all of the things I had to do, and how this would all play out. My secure phone beeped. I walked over to the desk to answer. But then I stopped before I could pick it up. Something was wrong.

I couldn't feel my fingers.

 _What._

 _The._

 _Heck._

I held them up in front of my face and looked at them. As if that would've helped.

Nothing. A vague sense of pins and needles, but otherwise...

The phone beeped again. It must be urgent.

The numb feeling was rapidly spreading, moving up my arms.

I looked at the plate of food. Poison? Probably. But if it took this long to take effect, it probably wasn't fatal. Good thing, because that would have been a terrible way to go. Also no stomach cramps, so that was a good sign. Poisoning me would have been easy. _Gods,_ I was so stupid! I already ate nearly half of a plate of the tainted food. And I didn't even notice! Most mortal poisons wouldn't have had any affect on me, but this was obviously an exception.

Gods, I _hate_ exceptions.

Now, I couldn't even feel my arms, and my legs were going too. I quickly put up a protection spell, falling to the floor, too shaky to make it to the bunk. I couldn't feel my legs, and my head slumped, as my neck gave out. My heartbeat started pounding in my ears. I heard voices, whispers, but there was no one in the room. I was alone. My thoughts slurred together as my eyelids fell, and then everything gave way to nothing, and I was gone.

 _Hello lovelies! I'd like to start by deeply apologizing, because, well, I started this story about two years ago, so my writing has really evolved since then, and as much as I'd like to tell you Eve's story with my best skill, I am not about to go back and re-write the whole thing, because this is seriously dang long. In fact, this isn't even a quarter of it, and it's all pre-written, and a tad outdated. Still cannon though(update: not really. The Clintasha ship has gone up in flames) ! I'll post when I can, and I'm terribly sorry that it isn't more often. Thanks for reading and reviewing!_

 _-j._


	9. Hot Mess

A tremor shook the ship, their flying fortress.

An explosion heated the sky as they became visible once again.

The villain sat alone in his cell.

Thinking of _Her_. The Impossible Her, the only one he had thought about for centuries now. He had Eve, he knew, in more ways than one. His plan was nearly complete. They were coming for him and he would leave and begin preparation for The War. And when he won, she would be his prize. But more than just that.

He knew in his heart that he could not keep her. He was a monster inside, a demon. She would want nothing to do with him if she knew the truth. So he would hide it from her. It would be the only way.

A second roar shook the bones of the crew. This was no explosion. The roar of a beast and his lost mind, no more than a _thing_ , full of rage and hatred. The Hulk had come to play. Fighting friends.

 _Not friends_ , he corrected, _not yet. Barely even allies_. And the villain smiled.

 **XX**

The girl was slumped on the floor, completely senseless. The poison would not wear off until the villain left. She was lost in the labyrinth of her mind now, no control over where she wandered. No dark recess off limits any longer. The horrors that she normally held back were loosed from their bindings and began to search for her.

 **XX**

In the belly of the ship, the spy ran.

Ran from the beast that was more than a beast.

It was all of her wrongs, all of her many faults, coming to take her, finally.

 _Coming to kill her._

But yet, she keeps running.

 **XX**

The Director rises from his seat. The battle has come to him, at last. He is weary in his work, yet tirelessly he continues. He sends his best man to the prisoner to secure him. But should he have gone himself?

 **XX**

Outside, the metal man tinkers, so thin a shell for any man, to preserve from so much harm. He is working to fix the fortress, along with all of his wrongs that his troubled past brings with him. To make up for them somehow. To be a mechanic rather than a sword smith, someone to heal rather than destroy. To finally use the genius he knows he was to save someone, something, that's important.

With him is the soldier, so lost, so out of his time. But still fighting on for the good of his country, ever the patriot. Still trying to help, even when he's out of his league.

Even when the enemy surrounds him, as his troubles overwhelm him, he stands by his friends.

He fights.

They do it together.

 **XX**

The villain sits and waits, for footsteps draw near, and soon he will be free once again.

 **XX**

The spy is safe now. She hides away from the beast, but only for awhile longer. For nearing is the archer, her only condolence in life, taken away by the side of evil. With no mind prevailing, but the villain's will.

 **XX**

The god had rescued her, and now he faces the beast. He knows the man inside, but that man is gone now, replaced by Anger. And there is no way to save him.

But he must save these people, for they are the innocents.

He must protect them, for the greatest lesson he has yet to learn, for the brother that he has lost to a cause worse than death.

And so he fights.

 **XX**

The girl still sleeps, untouched by the war around her, lost in a deeper chaos. She still fights for Good, because it is good and right and there is no doubt in her clever mind that this is what she should do.

 _Yet._

 **XX**

The beast fights without tiring against the god, against the ship, against himself. He knows it is wrong, they are not his enemies, but he is consumed by rage like hellfire and there is nothing he can do.

Suddenly there is a new prey. This faceless jet shoots at him. He flies at it, a bird in the sky and lands, planning to tear it to shreds.

Leaving behind all that his better half has worked for so far.

The god turns to find his brother.

 **XX**

The archer lurks in the shadows, watching his men cause a distraction. He waits for an opening, like an automation, takes aim, and fires, his mind gone, destroying those he called friends once.

Then he flees deeper into the ship, as it begins to sink.

 **XX**

Alarm bells are ringing as the god enters the prison.

The villain steps from his cage and grins as his brother runs to secure him, but disappears as the god goes flying inside, the door closing behind him, not connecting with his brother, as he never could.

He turns and pounds at the glass, enraged at how easily he is trapped, how foolish he is next to his brother.

The villain laughs as he comes to the console. He knows that he cannot kill the god, but he must try, for it is the will of his master.

But someone stands in the way.

A mortal Man.

Nothing more.

Coulson.

A brave soul who holds the key to the solution.

But it comes at a price.

The man falls as the villain strikes.

A bright blossom of blood erupts on his chest.

The villain finally pushes the button. To sever his past ties to home. To leave his brother and family behind for one last time.

And the god is gone.

The man sits to the side.

His vision blurs and his muscles are going slack, but he is not finished.

Not yet.

He looks at the villain and knows he will not win. For this man knows the nature of the people of Earth. He sees their purpose, their undeniable will and strength, and he sees the villain.

Even with all of his wisdom and power he will not stand above man and their undying spirit.

The villain scoffs.

"Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?"

The hero answers.

"You lack conviction."

And it is the truth. The villain cannot finish this, to destroy a whole race.

Especially when the only thing he loves in the universe favored them.

 _If he loses, he will lose her, and if he wins he will lose her._

He has no where left to turn.

But he is vain and sees nothing but the victory sure to come.

He leaves the Hero to die on the floor.

 **XX**

The villain walks through the ship, falling from the sky, he finds his way to her room and unlocks the door without lifting a finger.

The girl lays sprawled on the floor, hardly breathing, just barely alive, her blonde hair a mess, her hands still as death.

Her mind was dark, he could see. His poison had worked well, keeping her out of his way. Stopping him from having to confront her. He motioned for his guard to pick her up. She would make the ideal prisoner.

The guard bent over the lifeless body and grabbed the girl's shoulder, trying to lift her.

He screamed and drew back his hand, holding it carefully. As he watches, the skin bubbles and blisters, burning terribly, the smell of charred flesh rising into the air.

The villain frowns. Some kind of a spell.

He bends over her, studying the enchantment.

No way to take it off.

 _Damn._

She stirred as he carefully touched her wrist to feel for her pulse.

She had somehow unknowingly trusted him enough to pass through the enchantment. Interesting.

The poison would soon wear off. He had to be going.

 _If only it had lasted longer._

Loki looked on at the figure, wishing more fiercely than anything that he could have her. That he could win.

He saw through the glamour, at the true beauty hiding within.

 _If only..._

The villain continued through the ship, as it continued to fall. He boarded the waiting jet.

And the moment that it lifted off into the blue sky, the girl began to wake.

 _So a really great author once suggested that switching to third person to change up a story was a good idea, and that's what happened here. So yeah. My chapters get weird when it comes to perspective. Sorry. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! Feel free to reach out to me, but I will remind you that this is still pretty old work of mine, and that things have gotten a_ lot _better since I wrote this. Thanks again for understanding! PS I revised it so it isn't as hideous. *Cringes* -12.26.15_


	10. Guardian of Heroes

"Eve- no wait, uh, Agent Pacific."

My head pounded.

"Come on, Damn it! Get up."

The first thing that I noticed as my head slowly cleared was his smell. Loki had been here, in this room. I was sure of it. His lingering air of sage and magic was everywhere, wound around me.

But _gods_ , my head hurt.

I moaned and swatted away the hand that was poking me. My lungs were tight and I was covered in sweat, my hair plastered to my face.

"What happened?" I muttered groggily. Though I was awake, the poison had not gone yet. I felt like my limbs were full of splinters, and I could still hardly move. My thoughts were worse though. Such strange, tortured dreams...

"What are you doing? Sleeping on the job?" Tony Stark asked as he picked up an apple off of the poisoned food tray, poised to take a bite.

"No!" I gasped, just as he went to raise the apple to his mouth. "Poison," I croaked out hoarsely. He dropped the apple and cursed.

I found that I had the ability to smile, as well as sit up slightly.

"Not so tough without that suit of armor, are we Mr. Stark?"

"More like not as willing to die. Was it Loki?"

I shrugged indifferently, though I knew the answer. "I dunno. A lot of people want me dead apparently. Depends on what happened when I was out."

He sighed, darkly. "Well, basically, everything went to shit." I sat and slowly felt more like myself, as he told me everything that happened while I was unconscious, including the death of Coulson and ending with the very un-hopeful talk he had just had with Fury before he'd come to find me.

I shook my head in disgust.

"Then it _was_ Loki who poisoned me. He must have wanted me out of the way."

"Any idea what his grand finale is?"

"No, but it's going to be big. And it will happen soon. He wants to get this over with."

Nodding, Stark said, "I'm going to find Cap, and see what the plan is."

"Does he even have one?" I asked, unsure of what we were going to do next.

"Of course he does. Haven't you seen the footage? He's the star spangled man with a plan."

Confused, I just nodded, and Stark left.

I stood up on shaky legs and walked over to the bunk bed, sitting down to lace up my boots which had come untied. I walked back to the mirror and adjusted the glamour a bit where it had slipped when I was unconscious. I was just beginning to brood about the dream that I had had, when Stark's secure phone buzzed on the table. I walked over and picked it up, staring at the message it displayed:

 _Loki at Stark Tower_

So he had found out after all. Then another message arrived in an instant.

 _Go be a distraction, I'm on the way._

I ran to my bag and pulled out some weapons, including my sword. I put it at my belt, transfiguring it into a scabbard. I ripped off the latest glamour, and it felt good to finally be in my old human skin once again. A shower of sparks shot up out of my palm. I was ready. At least physically.

Turning and locking the door, I used a spell to send most of my bags back home. I looked around the room and not wanting to waste any more time, I teleported to Stark Sower.

Gods, it felt good to be off of that boat.

 **XX**

I decided to start at the bottom of the building, where the arc reactor was located. I found nothing wrong, at least nothing _obvious,_ and hoped that I had beaten Loki here. But then I went up to the lobby, (the same one I had been in months before), I saw that the receptionist was not at her desk, and that two security guards were knocked out (maybe dead) behind it. The doors were all locked, and no one else was in sight. I used a detection spell to check what the lowest level that someone of interest was on.

The penthouse suite.

I would go there.

 **XX**

I stepped into the room, out of the elevator. Spacious and luxuriously furnished, the whole front of the room opened up onto a balcony leading to the sky. And right in the middle of it all stood Loki, still bearing his scepter and smiling charmingly.

"Sleep well?" He asked, teasingly.

"Not really, I forgot my evening cup off tea," I replied, as nonchalantly as I could, though my anger spiked.

"I'm sorry to hear it."

I wanted to finish this quickly, shut down the portal generator, blow it up, and then leave, maybe with the Tesseract in tow. If not, it would buy Stark and the rest more time to track it down before Loki could activate it.

I immediately tried to teleport to the roof where, undoubtedly, they were trying to set up, but he must have anticipated it, and he had set up an anti-teleportation spell around the room, making my attempt at transport feel as though I was hitting my head on a low ceiling. Except worse.

Realizing the trap too late, I ran for the elevator, but suddenly he was in front of me, stopping me from getting past.

"I can't let you do that."

"If you're supposed to be the one letting me do things," I hissed. "Then _let_ me go."

He shook his head.

"I won't. Not while you plan to stop me."

I stopped rushing and smiled slyly.

"Well, what if I told you that that wasn't the plan?"

I was stalling for time. I had ten minutes tops until Stark and his team arrived.

"Then I wouldn't believe you."

"That hurts," I pouted.

"Not as much as allowing you to proceed would." He spoke evenly, measuring his words.

 _What? How would that hurt me at all?_

"What do you mean?" I asked, hesitantly.

"If you succeed in stopping me, then Thanos will learn that you had bested my greatest efforts and I will be forced to death."

I was seriously getting sick of being so confused.

"If you mean so much to him, then why will he kill you so easily?" I asked, carefully.

"He will not kill me right away," Loki began. He was looking directly into my eyes and he got quieter with each word, standing quite close to me now, still trying to block my path to the roof.

"In fact, it may be some time until he kills me. At least, not until I refuse to kill you."

"And why would you do a silly thing like that?" I asked, matching his whispered tone.

He stepped closer, and lowered his forehead so that it touched mine, his arms drawing me in close.

"Because, Eve Caster, I love you."

Our lips slid together perfectly, the way that was expected in fairytales. He was gentle, so careful, but I could feel the gravity, growing with each moment, the intense ache for him, ringing through every thought in my head, every bone in my body. It felt so perfect, so natural, like I was made only for him and nothing else. I had kissed before, but never with such a grace. I was certain that he could feel the pull too, his head finally seemed open to me, unguarded, straining for more, my arms wrapping around his lithe body, pulling us more tightly together, his hands softly pressing the small of my back...

And then he pushed away, and it was all over. His expression was cloudy, and I tried to hide my surprise as he turned.

"I can't-" he hesitated. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You weren't," I replied softly, my eyes searching for his.

He shook his head.

"But I will have to." He paused for a moment and looked me in the eye to show me he was serious.

"If I loose this battle, He will kill us, but if I do not, I will lose you."

I could see the sadness in his eyes, the bitterness, the longing to be understood.

"I can't lose you," he breathed.

His expression was begging for help, a small bit of hope, that this could be all right.

"You'll never lose me unless I want to be lost." I replied.

He stood for a minute, seeming to argue with himself, but wanting to contradict me, or to kiss me again, I was unsure.

My phone rang again as I realized my time was up. Stark would be here any minute.

"I have to go," I told Loki.

"About that." he flicked his wrists, and suddenly I was chained with invisible bonds to the floor.

"What the _hel_!" I shouted, enraged at this sudden betrayal. Goes to show what happens when you trust people. Or fall in love. My life kind of sucks like that.

"I don't want you to get hurt, and as we agreed earlier, you have a tendency to do just that."

"That," I informed him, "is irrelevant."

"With an army of monsters descending from the heavens? I should hope not."

The bonds were magical, but I could clearly see that they were breakable with some time.

"If you will excuse me, I must go and meet Mr. Stark on the balcony," he informed me, heading outside.

"Sure, take your time," I muttered grumpily, as I felt invisibility and silence spells pressing onto me.

I sat cross-legged on the floor, muttering a long enchantment to undo the invisible chains (although no one else could hear me) when Stark flew in. He was in a well worn suit, I could see, as I turned to watch him land on the platform.

"Jarvis, skip the spinning rims, we're on the clock."

He sounded irritable, the way he got when he was nervous. He tried to seem calm, but next to Loki's serene gait, he looked painfully tense.

"Please tell me that you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki requested, although that was clearly not going to happen any time soon.

"Uh... Actually, I was planning on threatening you," Stark replied.

He seemed a little more relaxed as he must have begun to form a plan.

"You should have left your armor on for that," Loki quipped. It was odd how a mask would come on whenever he spoke to any of the heroes he was fighting against, like he was a completely different person than the one I was used to talking to. Now, he was all bravado and cynicism, with a dash of biting sarcasm and psychopath.

He actually made Stark look tame.

"Yeah, but it's seen a bit of mileage, and you've got the glow stick of destiny." I laughed from under the concealment. "Would you like a drink?"

Loki began to reenter the room.

"Stalling me won't change anything."

 _Well you should have told me that before I came up here_ , I thought.

"No, no," Stark reminded. "Threatening. No drink? You sure? I'm having one." He walked to behind the bar and fiddled with bottles.

"The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers." Stark responded quickly. "It's what we call ourselves, sorta like a team, 'Earth's mightiest heroes' type thing."

Behind the bar where Loki couldn't see, Stark slipped on two metal bracelets.

"Oh, I've met them."

"Yeah, takes us a little while to get any traction, I'll give you that one, but let's do a head count here."

He was stalling for time now. And I was willing to bet that stalling would in fact change something.

"Your brother, the demigod; a super soldier, a living legend who, kind of lives up to the legend; a man with some _breathtaking_ anger management issues; my personal guardian angel; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've manage to piss off every single one of them."

Very true. I liked how I was now a guardian angel. I could live with that title.

"That was the plan."

"Not a great plan. 'Cause when they come, and they will, they'll come for you." He took a swig of his drink.

"I have an army."

"We have a hulk."

"I thought the beast had wandered off?"

"You're missing the point. There's no throne, there's no version of this, where you come out on top. And maybe your army comes, and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the earth, you can be damn well sure we'll Avenge it."

I felt a surge of loyalty for Stark and his team of misfits. They would do whatever it took to save this planet, the complete opposite of what I had been raised to do. What I was fighting for now.

But in his speech, Stark had come closer to Loki than he should have, an now he was in spear-possessing range.

"How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?" Loki reached out the spear, and tapped the ark reactor on Stark's chest.

Nothing happened.

"This usually works."

"Performance issues. Not uncommon. One out of five."

Loki decided to operate manually and lifted Stark off his feet by the neck, flinging him across the room like a sad sack of potatoes.

"Anytime now, Jarvis." Stark sputtered, choking under the god's vice-like grip, as he once again lifted him, preparing to toss him out of the window, where he would be no more than a grease spot on the pavement.

"You will all fall before me," Loki said, his voice thick with hatred. He almost sounded bored.

"Deploy- _Deploy_!" called Stark, screaming, as he flew out, breaking the glass of the windows, hurtling towards the pavement. I yanked on the chains trying to send a spell to catch him in case the suit didn't make it in time.

Suddenly, a condensed Iron Man suit flew out of a closet to my right after Stark. It screamed past Loki and more glass flew everywhere as the suit raced Stark to the bottom.

A moment later, the suit flew back up, with Stark inside.

 _"There's one other person you pissed off. His name was Phil."_

He hit Loki with a blast of energy, then flew off to the top of the building where the portal just opened from.

Loki was shocked back by Stark and landed right next to me.

"Well, that could have gone better," I told him sarcastically, still working to break the bonds.

He shot me a look and seemed to know what I was doing.

"Will you ever stop trying to undo my work?" He asked in a cool tone.

"Nope." I told him honestly.

He boosted the spell and knelt down next to me, brushing a stray piece of blonde hair out of my eyes.

"If you should get out, promise me that you'll be careful at least?"

"Only if you promise the same," I replied. He smiled a bit.

"I will return soon," he told me.

"Just great." I said, secretly doubling my effort against the chains to finish before he could get back to stop me from escaping.

He walked out to the balcony again. This time I could hear the sounds of explosions rocketing through the distant city, followed by the inhuman cries of the Chitualri warriors as they fell. Suddenly, Thor was on the balcony, the light against Loki's darkness. I could not hear their conversation, but watched as it became heated and turned into a battle on the sky deck. They changed between talking and fighting. It seemed like Thor was on the verge of convincing Loki to stop. There was a moment when it seemed like he would give in. But then Loki stabbed him, and went down hard, rolling off the building into a chariot. Thor grimaced and pulled a dagger out of this side.

My struggle against the chains became more frantic as I watched the pair and and saw chariots driven by aliens zooming past outside, pursuing Stark in his suit. One landed a hit. I could practically hear Stark cursing them out.

I wanted to help. Let's just say that I got a little frustrated with the bonds.

"Screw this. _Desolati_!" With the word of power, the chains shattered and I was free.

I pulled my sword out from my belt and held it in my hand. Stealth was my most welcome ally in this battle. If the beasts couldn't see me coming, then it would be easier to take them, although the spell was only for mortals. It would help if I wasn't being noticed by them, the media, who would undoubtedly give me a title and stick my face on a lunchbox.

All I aimed to do in this battle was to end it as soon as possible and protect any innocent lives in the process. Regardless of whose side I was on.

But the downfall of my effort would be that I would lose energy quickly and be completely drained when it was all over.

 _If it ever ended at all._

 _Assuming that I lived either way._

It was a risk that I was willing to take.

I flew out of the building (by harnessing a wind spell) and landed on the streets where the monsters were beginning to patrol. I slipped behind a squadron that was advancing towards a cafe full of civilians. One got a blade in the back, another a broken neck. Two others flew out to the sides and smashed into buildings. The next three were stuck to the ground as though gravity had decided to punish them for their crimes. This left only two who accidentally shot each other as I ducked below their shots. Admittedly not the _brightest_ army.

The mortals in the shop looked thoroughly confused as to why the aliens had suddenly started killing each other, but grateful all the same.

My victory was short lived however, as a second group came around a corner and saw me. They let out screaming whoops of rage for their fallen comrades and charged. I was ready for them. Arcs of white magical energy burst from my hands and knocked them out, stooping the whole group in their tracks. I again lifted up into the sky, my hands still blazing with Light, as I saw Stark nearing with a whole flock on his heels. I took out half of them and flew alongside of him, letting him see through the glamour.

"Glad you could make it," the suit told me in a robotic voice.

"Thanks for inviting me."

Stark flew around another street and then flew straight up to get a better view, knocking two more shuttles out of the sky on his way. I dodged a photon blast and followed.

"This is crazy," I told myself, shooting more spells after three separate alien scooters near midtown, watching civilians screaming and running around below.

I stopped to keep a pair of aliens away from a young mother running and carrying a baby. I used a shattering spell and the pair in pursuit broke into shards like glass. A few civilians were trying to fight back, some police and fire rescue. A banker who had picked up a plasma gun. A woman using a piece of broken pipe.

A tall man in a long trench coat stood waving a small object and sheltering a shorter blonde woman caught my attention.

Just after I saw them, I got hit for the first time. It was to the side, and I cried out, feeling the plasma burning my skin, and being blasted forcefully across the street into the side of a building.

The tall man looked over at me, his hair standing up, and I could've sworn that he could see straight through the glamour. When he noticed that I was injured, he started over, but turned back halfway when the blonde girl cried out as an alien approached her with its gun raised.

I shot an incantation of blades and the beasts fell painfully, hitting the ground and writhing in agony.

The man gave me a pained look.

I tried looking into his mind.

I only got four words despite the normal flow of emotion that other people gave off.

"Shut down the portal."

I nodded solemnly to him, and was about to lift off again when I heard a cry that stopped me in my tracks. It came from directly to the east, above the tower. I rose into the sky, and gazed with amazement.

A Leviathan cruised through the dark opening in the sky, a creature only mentioned in ancient myth, as large as a train and twice as wide. It was covered in metal plates that crushed steel and stone alike as the whale-like beast crashed through the city, swimming through the air and baring sharp teeth the size of cars.

It roared again as the Chitaluari rallied with it. I fought more off while I tried to think of what to do.

Eventually, Stark whizzed by and I followed quietly.

"You need to find a way to hear the rest of the team," he told me.

"Got it." Why hadn't I thought of that earlier?

I made myself a communication device out of thin air. Mortal mechanics are easy.

The voice of Steve Rogers came in over my newly made com.

"Stark? We got him."

"Banner?"

"Just like you said."

"Then tell him to suit up... I'm bringing the party to you."

We turned the corner and the monster followed us, into the sight of the other Avengers.

"I don't see how that's a party," Natasha replied, the Leviathan plowing down the street towards them, taking out the whole block.

"Doctor Banner? Now might be a good time to get angry," Cap said nervously. Bruce smiled a little, like his time had finally come.

"That's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry," Bruce replied, as he turned and faced the beast, morphing into the Hulk as he went. The pair of them collided, and the beast was crumpled upon meeting the fist of the green giant. Stark finished the job by blowing it up (his specialty).

The Chitualri screeched from the rooftops, and the Hulk roared back at them.

Hunks of charred flesh rained down.

I used magic to stop them from getting in my hair.

 _Priorities._

Stark brought our attention back to the group.

"Call it, Captain."

The fantastic strategist that he was, Steve had a plan already made. Stark was right, Cap was the star spangled man with a plan. _Whatever that meant._

"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority's containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash," he looked warily at the buildings and the quickly rallying monsters.

"Wanna give me a lift?" Barton asked.

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas."

Stark lifted Barton up to the rooftop.

"Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow 'em down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up."

Thor flew away with his hammer.

Cap gestured to Black Widow. "You and me, we stay on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk?"

He turned and looked at Cap expectantly.

"Smash!"

Hulk grinned, and bounded down the street.

That left me. I would try to figure out how to fix this, how to close that portal.

" _Send the rest,_ " I heard the voice run though the telepathic network of the enemy.

Things were just getting started.

 **X**

Fighting is hard work. Especially with so many enemies and so few allies. I got tired so many times. So often, I wanted to stop. But I couldn't, and I was reminded of that by every civilian I protected. The school bus full of kids. The families hiding behind cars. My energy was dangerously low, but magic buzzed in my ears.

It was strange to not be seen by anyone. To do my job, but to never be acknowledged for it. Even by the other heroes. I put a stack of arrows next to Clint when he was about to run out. I fought alongside Cap for a good five minutes. The Hulk never needed any real help, but I did move civilians out of his way, which I feel like Bruce Banner would have appreciated. I took a blast to the shoulder for Natasha and she never knew. She was up riding on chariots now, trying to get to the top of Stark Tower. And she was nearly there, by the looks of it.

Just then, a small explosion lit up the side of the building, and I saw a figure fly out of the chariot directly into the penthouse.

Loki.

I should go and deal with him.

But Hulk got there before me. He was tossing Loki like a rag doll. I laughed. It looked like he had finally gotten what was coming to him by insulting some of the most remarkable people on the planet.

I noticed the spear laying in the ground below the sky deck, and almost simultaneously felt Black Widow and Selvig's severe need for it.

I flew over and scooped it up. An odd feeling came over me. It was numbingly cold and mysteriously dark, more powerful than any artifact I had ever seen. Why did he get all the cool toys?

Inside of the ruined penthouse suite, Loki was lying on the ground, out cold. It was good to be on the winning side for once. I walked in and checked his pulse. Fine. I put a spell on him that would keep him knocked out until the battle was over.

Now, I know what you're thinking, but _no,_ this was _not_ vengeance for the time that he knocked me out for the battle on the heli-carrier. Not at all. Just to keep him from escaping. Or at least from getting beat up by another one of the superfriends.

I left him alone, and teleported to the roof, removing the glamour so that Black Widow could see me.

"And you are...?" She asked, eyeing me warily as I offered her the spear, myself looking at where the generator rested.

"Your guardian angel." I replied as she took it.

"Good enough for me." She responded.

"You're welcome," I told her, wincing at all of my wounds as I flew away again, starting to feel the effects of working so much magic at last. Natasha could shut the portal now, but below somewhere, I could sense a pair of girls panicking.

 **X**

They were sisters, just inside of Times Square, being attacked by a half dozen warriors, completely surrounded.

The older one was blonde.

"Addie, just get behind me. It'll be okay," she said, reassuringly to her little sister. She couldn't have been more than twelve, and she had no weapon to speak of. Shaking almost to pieces, but still trying to shield her sister.

I flew in, and stood between them and the beasts.

The good news: The girls were rescued. The bad news: I was now surrounded, and the alien's ranks were swelling. It seemed that they were hunting me. I looked up. The sky was filling with even more swarms of warriors. I was already exhausted. Two chariots pulled up over my head. What was taking so long? Couldn't they shut the portal off already?

Plasma bullets began raining down from above me, and I shot up a shielded energy dome to deflect them, to keep the girls safe. I didn't have the energy for anything else.

It started to crumble almost right away. I felt sweat and blood beading on my face as I struggled to hold it up, even dropping my glamour, watching my dome of safety fracture under the pressure. The girls held each other and whimpered. I fell to my knees. It was about to collapse. They were going to die because of me.

Then, I felt something in my head snap.

 **XXXX**

It was almost as though a switch had been thrown. If she had been powerful before, then now, she was a supernova. The shield she had just been cowering under shattered outward in a blast of white light, completely vaporizing hundreds of the aliens, and expanding outward, shattering every screen and window in Times Square.

Eve Caster rose from the center of it.

 _So much power..._ She felt something new arcing through her veins. Her eyes had gone a liquid silver and she acted almost as though she was in a trance, though her mind was still clear. A Leviathan flew in, drawn by the light, like a moth to flame. The sisters watched in awe as the girl faced the beast, level with its massive jaws.

"Enough."

The word rang clearly through the chaos.

Blinding white light erupted from the beast as it vaporized into nothing, purging the Earth of the rancid thing. No aliens dared challenge her further as they felt the heat of the blast on their backs. She slowly sank back to the ground to the girls, waiting, for they knew that she meant no harm to them. It showed on her beautiful face, now more radiant than it ever had been.

"Go. You are safe now."

She waved her arm and the girls disappeared, back to their parents.

Suddenly, the aliens collapsed together, as though a button had been pressed.

Eve Caster turned back to look at the portal, and the form slowly falling from its depths as it collapsed.

She not only saw the minds of the heroes, but could now reach into them. And change them.

She saw the beast, and pushed past all of his anger.

"Catch him."

The Hulk complied, already having been willing to commit to the act, and caught the metal form of Tony Stark in his arms.

Then she collapsed, her newly found power gone.

 _My favorite thing about this chapter? "Spear possessing range". Without a doubt. The last bit sets up for lots to come. Love you all for reading and reviewing. Thanks again!_


	11. 007

When I woke up, I was surrounded at gunpoint by SHIELD personnel.

Which was a shame, because the rest of the heroes were eating Shwarma, (whatever the heck that is).

Things were different now. It was like getting a new pair of glasses that were _way_ too strong. My head was flooding with thoughts that didn't belong to me. I could barely control it by will. They were either on and overwhelming, or off entirely. Not only could I hear the emotions, but now the thoughts, the ideas, of anyone. I could even change their minds. _Freaky._ I would have to try not to do that.

I still had no idea where the rest of that energy that had saved me had come from. I could hear and feel things all over the world. Like, _everywhere_. It was exhausting. Especially since there seemed to be no filter. If I tried to open the mind of one person, more came flooding in, the random memories pooling and overlapping.

It made things more complicated.

But most pressing was the armed gunmen (and two women) in front of me. I didn't want to hurt any humans. I would have to go quietly, which, in case you haven't noticed, is not my specialty. I had no energy left to teleport, and my other options were limited by the fact that there were sixty members of a strike team glaring at me.

"Put your hands over your head and get down on your knees. You are completely surrounded."

"All right. If you say so," I complained whilst complying. I wanted them to know that I was on their side.

I was put into handcuffs and read rights. The media were just beginning to come out of their hidey holes. Cameras were flashing left and right and I used the last bit of energy that I had to make them leave me alone and to make the film they already had of me delete itself.

Leaving no mark on the battle that I had just won.

 **X**

The drive was long. The van was air conditioned and brand new, driven by one Agent Rumlow, who it seemed was pleased to have made an arrest. The traffic was stop and go because of the wreckage that was being cleared.

Two guards sat in the back of the van watching me. I feigned sleep.

"They caught the son of a bitch," the first guard said near the end of the journey. They were talking about Loki now.

"Thank god. How?"

"Beats me."

"I just hope that they kill him for it."

"No, I heard some of the higher-ups talking. They're sending him back to where he came from. Said we didn't have the equipment to hold him here."

"Makes sense. Is she with him?" He asked, gesturing to me.

 _Good question._

"No clue, they never tell me anything," the second guard grumbled, shifting nervously.

They were quiet after that.

If they were really sending Loki back to Asgard, he would be incarcerated.

But on the plus side, Thanos, the one who had been pressuring him wouldn't be able to get to him. He was safe. For now.

I would have to get up there eventually, but now I needed to smooth things over down here on earth. It would really suck to live as a fugitive. I wanted to be able to come back without being shot for my trouble. Fun stuff.

Up front in the van, Rumlow was having an argument over the phone, unbeknownst to everyone but me.

I could hear his conversation, though no one else could.

"Sir, you _saw_ the damage. We take her now, and we've got this in the bag."

I didn't recognize the man on the end of the line and wasn't sure how to figure out who he was, beyond a name: Andrew Pierce.

"No. We snatch her out from under Fury's nose, and we'll be the ones in the bag. Just make sure she gets transported. You do the interrogation."

Rumlow hung up instead of replying.

By that night, I was in a large SHIELD complex somewhere, and Agent Rumlow was half dragging me to a holding room.

"I can walk myself, thanks," I told him.

It was remarkable to see in his mind how my stimuli of only saying a few words had prompted so many thoughts from him. And then the flood started and there was nothing that I could do but shut the connection off.

He was dressed in combat gear and was heavily armed. Muscular and tall, he seemed to command some kind of respect from the other agents, and they seemed to like him.

I didn't. There was something odd about him, almost a shade that flicked across his features at random moments, making him seem a bit dark...

A familiar voice came up over his com, which I wasn't supposed to be able to hear.

"Take her right in for questioning while she's still tired."

It was Director Fury. Just my luck.

We came to an interrogation room and he had me sit down in a stiff, hard backed chair. The room was painted white, the only decoration a two-way mirror that I faced as I sat down, with Rumlow in front of it. There were two agents behind the mirror. He swapped my handcuffs for ones that were attached to the table.

I'll tell you what, one _fabulous_ reason for not being arrested is that all of these damn handcuffs are _incredibly_ uncomfortable.

Stay in school, kids.

He sat across from me and laid down a thick file.

I tried to use my new abilities, but no beans. The problem was that maybe I would see something useful, but it was more likely that I'd see some random useless childhood memory, or something otherwise completely unrelated that I really wouldn't have wanted to know about.

Like really, really didn't need to see, thank you _very_ much, Agent.

"You've caused a considerable amount of damage," he told me.

"Not to any people."

"That's beside the point. You also impersonated a federal officer. That's against the law." Speaking of the law, Director Fury was on his way now. I'd finally get the chance to greet him. And even though I was arrested by his order and being held in his facility, it would be on my terms.

"All right, charge me then. Or, you could just let Director Fury in, considering that he's just outside the door," I told him.

He opened his mouth to contradict me.

"Director Fur-"

The door opened, and the spy himself walked in, long coat trailing behind him. He was taller in person, but he looked exceptionally tired.

"Dismissed Agent Rumlow."

"Sir, my orders were to-"

"Damn your orders. Get out of my interrogation."

He gave a brief nod, and that shadow came over his face again. He did _not_ like Fury. Did a good job hiding it though.

Rumlow left without further ado, and promptly called Pierce again. I couldn't hear what they were saying.

Fury sat down.

"If it isn't Stark's guardian angel at last."

"The pleasure's all mine. Did he tell you?" I asked.

"No."

He opened the file that Rumlow had left on the desk and sighed.

"Quite frankly, we've got a lot on you. The problem is, it doesn't make much sense. We don't know who you are."

"John Cena."

"Like hell. You act like you wanna help, but you won't pick our side. Now, I'm gonna give you one chance to fill in the rest and make that choice."

"And if I don't take it?"

"Then I book you on a dozen separate charges and call it a day,"

I looked him in the eye. Singular.

"Ah. But then you wouldn't know what you need to." I leaned in towards him. "I can help you. And I want to. But until you stop asking questions about my past, I won't. When you stop trying to figure out who I am, come on back. I'll let you know."

"That's on you."

"Got it."

He left, and I was transported to a high security cell, made of glass, and shut in. Now I knew how Loki had felt. I could just teleport out, but I needed to sort things before I left. Not to mention that my magical mojo was on low and needed some recharging before I could pull an elaborate escape.

 **XX**

The next morning, I was back in the interrogation room.

The guy who met me was Agent Carmichael. He wasn't wearing any ID that I could see.

I was bored and planning on enjoying myself while I was stuck here.

"Morning Agent Carmichael." He seemed a little shaken that I knew his name.

"I really hate to tell you this, but your daughter's goldfish died ten minutes ago." I told him.

"What?"

"I'm sorry for your loss. Mr. Wiggles was a good fish,"

"How do you-"

"Miya's really upset. You should answer that. You know, be a good dad and all." His phone rang a second later, though he could have sworn that the ringer was off.

"Excuse me. I have to step out for a minute."

"No problem. Take your time."

"I will."

He went to the hallway, and talked to his daughter. She was in hysterics over her dead fish. It took awhile, but he calmed her down and came back in afterwards. I had gotten bored and decided to freak out the agents behind the two way mirror by using a spell to make the extra chair in the room spin on one leg while I twirled a finger.

Needless to say, they were panicking.

Agent Carmichael ignored me and walked over, staying standing. I dropped the chair.

"How did you know about Miya?"

I shrugged.

"I'm just looking out for her."

"A guardian angel?"

"If you like." He noticed my hands free of the cuffs for the first time.

"How did you get out of those handcuffs?" He asked dubiously.

"Same way I got into them. A good magician _never_ reveals their secrets," I airily mused.

"So it _is_ magic then?"

I held up two hands in mock surrender.

"You got me. Better start the witch hunts now. It could take awhile, I don't burn easy," I joked.

"Ma'am, if you're not going to cooperate-"

"It's Eve. Eve Caster. Ma'am just sounds super awkward. You know?"

I realized that I had interrupted.

"Sorry. Continue."

"Eve, if you won't cooperate, we're going to have to force you to."

"I'm sure you will. I know my rights. As an American citizen, I should have a lawyer present right now."

"That can be arranged."

"Oh gods, _please_ don't. I actually hate lawyers, for what it's worth. Unless they're blind. That's a whole 'nother story though."

He sighed, and looked like he was glad to be rid of me.

"Alright. Agent Taylor will be in in ten minutes to question you. I expect full cooperation."

"Okey doke."

He left and shut the door behind him. Fifteen minutes later, another agent walked in. I had spent my time changing my hair color from bubblegum pink to the design of a nebula and everything in between, but as she arrived, I put it back to the normal blonde.

"They told me ten minutes," I stated, raising my eyebrows and doing my best to look a nonchalant badass, my feet up on the desk.

"Sorry, you gave us some new info we had to look into." She sat down comfortably in the chair. She was pretty, with straight, long brown hair pulled up into a pony tail, and she was tall and thin, looking professional in a business suit.

"My name is Agent Catherine Taylor. I've been assigned to your case."

She shuffled her papers.

"So. Eve. You were born in Utah?"

"Yup. Can't hate the beehive state," I replied, putting my feet down to answer, and throwing up a peace sign. Tony was rubbing off on me.

"Did you like your parents?" She questioned, all business.

"Oh yeah. Loved 'em lots." I lied.

"Well, that's a little weird, considering that they don't exist."

"Try telling them that."

"The names and places on your birth certificate were clearly forged."

"That doctor in the maternity ward looked a little shady to me too, to tell the truth."

She sighed.

"Look, you're making things harder on yourself by lying. Where are you from?"

"Long ago in a galaxy far, far away."

"Jesus. They weren't kidding when they said you were uncooperative," she rolled her eyes, and tried to hide the smile that came with any good Star Wars reference.

"No. I'm serious. It took me awhile to get here, and I'm not going back. Now, I'll tell you what I told Fury. My past is mine alone. Ask about something else and maybe I'll help you."

She rubbed her temples.

"Alright. Who do you work for?"

"Tony Stark. For three years. Don't get me wrong, the pay's good, but the benefits kind of suck." She seemed surprised by my compliance.

"All right. Would you like to explain why you were on the heli-carrier last week?"

"His orders. Said he needed someone on the inside."

"And what exactly did you _do_ on the inside?"

The rest of the afternoon was passed detailing my escapades on the ship, and I cooperated well enough, even though I kind of left out the bits about meeting Loki in the cell and made the poisoning sound more like it was just because I was the head security officer. You can't always have your cake, and eat it too.

I was starting to not mind Agent Taylor until it was time to go back to the holding cell.

About then, she pulled what was more or less a muzzle out of her bag. It fit just below the nose and prevented speaking from the mouth. I was appalled.

"What the hell is that?"

"It's just to keep you quiet and to stop you from casting any spells. A similar one was used on Loki after the battle of New York." She added, "We know you're using magic,"

It did not ease my temper to know that Loki had had to wear one too. In fact, it really ticked me off. I mean, he was the bad guy for pity's sake.

"Come on, you've gotta be kidding. I mean, I never did anything that would warrant-"

She cut me off.

"Since you won't tell us the full extent of your abilities, or your intent, we have to play this on the safe side. Most people want you in a straight jacket," she informed me.

"I'll be needing one of those by the time I'm done here," I grumbled.

"Come on. It's just a gesture of good faith," she coerced.

"Fine." Maybe I shouldn't have enjoyed freaking people out by levitating chairs this morning. Great. Just another thing to fix when I found a time machine and went back to the past.

I had to wear the muzzle around whenever I wasn't in the interrogation room or eating. All of the talking to myself was starting to get to me by two days later, when I got back in for questioning.

They chatted for awhile. Then asked about my abilities. I told them a bit. Nothing too specific. No one else asked me to choose a side. But then again, when it was time to go, the mask went back on again despite my protests.

"I don't need it."

"You still haven't been cleared."

"As if it does anything anyways," I grumbled under my breath. I could still use magic just as well without talking.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

She didn't press further, but she wrote herself a note in my file that I'm pretty sure said something along the lines of: _Liar, Liar, pants on fire._

I wouldn't admit officially that I didn't need to be able to speak to use magic, cause goodness knows that they'd put me in an isolation tank or some psycho thing like that. Very kind of them.

I got sent to bed that night and fell asleep straight away, going to the library of memories, and revisiting the past few weeks, trying to find out what had happened to me in New York. It seemed that I had finally snapped, finally pushed past the limit, and the new powers were triggered by my desperate situation. Did they have anything to do with the power mentioned in the prophecy?

I was shaken awake, much to my dismay.

"Whas goin on?" I sleepily croaked into the muzzle as I was dragged into standing position, disoriented by the sudden shock into reality.

"You're wanted in interrogation. _Now._ "

The guard pulled me down the hallway into a new room, this one similar to the last, but much smaller and containing no two way mirror. No cameras. More or less a glorified broom closet with a table put in as an afterthought.

Fury was arguing with Agent Taylor in the center of it.

"Sir, I just don't think-"

She stopped when I came in. I was still so disoriented that I didn't notice their thoughts, or think to try to read them. I was, however picking up some alarm from Agent Rumlow who had just found my cell empty.

The director pointed to an empty chair behind the card table.

"Sit."

"Thanks for saying please," I muttered, taking a deep breath of fresh air as the guard left, taking the muzzle with him.

"You're lucky you're getting that much."

He was obviously grumpy. I was too at this hour. And poor Agent Taylor looked like she had just been dragged out of bed herself, her typically smooth ponytail askew.

"How come?" Something was new.

"Why don't you see for yourself."

He picked up a remote and pointed it at an old television on a wheeled stand. The kind that they make kids watch Charlie Brown on in elementary school. It flipped on and started playing.

A time stamp was in the corner of the screen and a view showed a tall figure pacing in the penthouse of Stark Tower, on the date of the battle of New York.

Oh _no_.

The one time that I hadn't checked, or turned a camera off. The one freaking time. Caught red handed with the enemy. Literally. This was the kind of luck I had. I swear to gods.

I watched as Loki walked out to the balcony and looked over the city.

And then I showed up. Out of nowhere.

I watched the two figures, mine and his, on the screen, how he vanished and reappeared nearer to me, stopping my escape. Bantering.

"Would you like to explain what you were doing here?" Fury asked.

The tape kept rolling.

"I was stalling for time," I replied coolly.

The pair drew closer.

"That's funny. Because I've seen a lot of people 'stalling'. Even 'persuading'. 'Getting information'. But this-"

He paused the tape just as the couple's lips joined.

"Doesn't look anything like any of those."

I probably was meant to be embarrassed. I wasn't. More like impressed with how I looked from the back. _Not bad at all._

"Then what _does_ it look like?" I asked.

"If I said love, they'd start calling me sympathetic."

I just gave a sarcastic laugh.

"I've been in this business for a long time. I know what I'm talking about," he finished.

There was a bit of an admittedly awkward silence where I tried not to look too pleased.

Finally, Agent Taylor spoke. She looked concerned.

"Eve, the question that we're trying to get the answer to is whether or not this is what it seems like."

"Well, then you're asking the wrong question."

"You're not in a position to-" Director Fury began.

I cut him off.

"Yes I am, actually. For instance, why are you the only ones who know about this tape? Why isn't this interview being recorded? How come Agent Rumlow is on the phone, right now, trying to tell someone to figure out where I've gone?"

They looked a little confused. Especially Agent Taylor.

"Don't worry, I've got the answers too. You haven't told anyone about this 'cause you can tell what kind of a person I am. I'm not against you here, and if anyone else saw this lovely rom com, I'd be used as an excuse, a scapegoat, where I get punished for Loki's crimes because you guys can't touch him. But, you need me. Know why? That phone call. The third question. You know that something's going on here. Something big. You can see it in the corner of your eye, and you have been seeing it for a long time. There's old blood running through SHIELD. It's full of hate. You're keeping this meeting a secret because if they find out, they'll take me, faster than you can blink. Without me, you _will_ lose. Now, I can help you, but you can't pretend to control me. Because you don't. Savvy?"

"Agent Taylor, outside please."

I knew what they were saying in the hallway.

"Her accent switched. It almost sounded Asgardian," Agent Taylor remarked.

"I _hate_ those god damn immortals."

He sighed.

"I think she's being honest, sir. She wants to help. Why else would she stay? We know that we can't keep her here," Agent Taylor argued.

"Cause she wants to hurt. Not everybody is full-on evil, but that sure as hell doesn't mean that they're heroes," he said. _Ouch._

"Sir, we don't have a choice. Yesterday you said-"

"I know what I said. But I don't want to have to rely on someone who's gonna go to town with a mass-murdering psychopath." _Really?_

I teleported behind them.

"Oh my gods. That was _one time_. Get over it."

They turned, and Agent Taylor's gun was on me before I could blink.

"That's not going to be any use." I greeted.

"Then why did you flinch?" She countered. _Caught again._

"Cat-like reflexes. Look, either you want my help, or I'm leaving. That's it. Oh. And good ole' Rumlow is on his way here now. You have about two minutes."

I was expecting a delay. Some bargaining. Maybe a debate between the two of them. To my surprise, immediately, Fury put down his gun.

"Fine. Go back to your cell. You'd probably just stay anyway."

"Right you are," I winked, and left.

The next day, I was in interrogation. I had been waiting for a few minutes for Agent Taylor to come in.

It wasn't her.

It was Rumlow.

 _Hello Stonehenge! Just kidding. But out of curiosity, did anyone catch my tenpetals cameo in the last chapter? Cause it was there. Anyways... I'm changing up the order a little bit here. I know that Iron Man 3 comes first, but the whole winter soldier thing had been building for a long time before Cap actually broke it open, and in this you can see a bit of the Hydra infested SHIELD before things break down, even if we never do get to see Bucky (tears of sadness :'(...) but anyway I really love sassy caught Eve esp in interrogation. I look to her when I need a little bit more self confidence sometimes. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! See you next time for the exciting adventures of Eve Caster!_


	12. Hail Hydra

Rumlow entered the room and she looked up, frowning, not quite a frown, but still note worthy all the same.

She was pretty, there was no denying that, the Agent thought. But no one knew where she was from. Who she was fighting for. She was a rouge. Unknown. Dangerous.

His type.

That was his mistake.

She _wanted_ to be here. She was too at ease, too calm to be a captive.

But then, he had seen the tapes from the heli-carrier. Loki had seemed completely at peace there. And look at how that had gone.

So, he would tread lightly. Or try to.

"Surprised?" He asked, pouting in mock.

"No. Just disappointed." She replied haughtily.

"How so?" Rumlow asked, curious. A bit offended.

"Well, no offense, but it's just that you're a bit boring."

He grinned a little. Shows what she knew. He thought himself interesting. How amusing.

"Agent Taylor has been taken off of your case-"

"By whom?"

"Director Fury. Now-"

"Why?"

He sighed.

"Alright. I can tell that Agent Taylor gave you the wrong impression. I'll ask the questions. You'll give the answers. That's it."

"See. That's the other problem with you. You humans think you're always in control. You're not. I know you better than you know you. Fury won't let you back into the field because of your injury. Or is it because he can't trust you? You've been fine for a month now. That's why you hate him. He reminds you of your dad. And that's without using any magic. You're easier to read than a Shel Silverstein book."

His jaw tightened, just a bit. She was getting to him. And he had barely been in here for five minutes. Good for her.

"Where did you find that information?" He asked.

"It's written all over you. The way you walk. And talk. You're obvious."

"You said humans. Like you're not one. What _are_ you?" He asked.

"Wow. Just now figuring out that one? I've been levitating chairs for a week and it's only now you realize that I'm not human? Is this where my tax dollars have been going? It's pitiful."

He had to suppress a smile.

"Is it Asgard?"

She laughed. It was tinkling, fake, though still realistic to the man sitting before her, sounding almost like bells chiming.

"I'm flattered. Really. But you'll have to do a little more research if you want to know the truth. Or you could just try to ask nicely."

She smiled charmingly, her big green eyes luring, trying to get him to drop his guard.

"Look sweetheart. I want to trust you. But there are some things that I need to know first," he said.

She raised her eyebrows.

"All right. We go one for one. I ask a question. You answer truthfully. Then it's my turn. And _do_ be honest. I can tell, you know," she offered.

He stopped and considered his options. It wasn't like she could ask anything too important. And he assumed he could just lie if she did.

"Do you want me to start?" He asked as an answer.

"Might as well," she replied.

He thought for awhile about his question.

"Who are you? Really. Who are you?"

She sat in thought for a moment.

"A guardian angel. I protect the good when there is no one to protect them," she said. It seemed that she had come to terms with her title.

"Then who protects you?" He asked.

 _Good question._

"That was two questions."

"Point taken."

She hardly skipped a beat in asking her turn.

"What's your favorite color?"

He rolled his eyes. What was she playing at?

"Are you kidding me?" He asked exasperatedly.

"If that's your next question, then no, I'm serious. My turn then, I guess. What's your sun sign?"

"My wha-" She cut him off.

"Sounded like the beginning of a question. My turn again. Coke or Pepsi?"

"What does this-wait. Um. Pepsi."

He said, stopping himself mid-response.

"Finally wising up I see. Took you long enough." She leaned back and folded her arms.

"Who do you work for?"

"Me, myself, and I. I do what I want. When it suits me. What is Agent Taylor assigned to now?"

The pace was moving fast, and he was caught off guard trying to recover.

"I'm not at liberty to say," Rumlow replied, though the real answer popped into his head. Right to the front, above all the random mish-mosh

The small moment was all that she needed.

Had she started with that question, he would have tried to block the answer. He was smart enough to guess that she could read minds. _Barely_ smart enough. So, she had played around, distracted him. Then, she took him out and got the information that she needed. Clever.

"Okay. If you say so. Is that all for today?" She asked.

He had no clue that he had let anything slip.

"Why? You getting sleepy already?" He teased.

"Nope. Just hungry. I'm dying for a decent burger," she replied, flashing a grin.

"Well then, I guess we can call it a day," he affirmed.

He gave her a short smile. Brief, to hide his feelings. As if he could.

He thought he had done well. He didn't seem to notice the clever look in Eve's eye as the guards put the mask back onto her face. He couldn't hear the thoughts in her head that were wishing for someone else.

Not one whisper of them.

 _But I could._

 **XXXXX**

So. Agent Taylor was fine, as I determined that day. I was fine (sorta) and everyone else was fine. But, I was bored out of my mind. Rumlow was boring. This muzzle was getting boring. Every day staring at the glass walls of my room was (you may have guessed it) boring. Sometimes scientists came and took notes about me. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

For seven months, I gathered information. There was nothing else that I could do to help. I tried to hone my powers, but nothing that I did worked. What was worse was that I couldn't use my old abilities without messing up, because of how strange my changed powers felt. I spent almost every night working through memories, looking for any sort of hint as to what had happened, or why it happened.

I had never heard of a light elf having this kind of power, not even the elders. It was frustrating, like banging my head into a wall. And just like actually doing that, I usually ended up with a killer headache for my efforts.

My only condolence was that Loki was probably stuck in a cell too. Only, he was a hundred million miles away.

They were sending me in to interrogations less and less. They were forgetting to care.

Except for Rumlow. I might have laid the flattery on a little too thickly. Now, he had actually started to trust me, maybe even to like me, and I couldn't help but to almost feel bad for the guy, even though I had to keep the act going.

He wasn't bad looking, and despite being evil, he was super nice. But there was the whole problem that I was currently in love with someone totally different. Someone a half a million times better. Also a god for goodness sake.

So I kept up my ruse. He learned almost nothing about me. I learned a little more than that about the shadow behind SHIELD, what was going on behind enemy lines. It was hard, though. Rumlow didn't know much from what I could tell. And if he did, he believed in his cause enough to keep things quiet.

I never trusted him an inch, and with good reason. He was always thinking about something big that was about to go down, a black storm cloud to him. I knew that it was there, but I couldn't get any useful information like specific names or places.

 _If I just knew how to control my powers..._

I had been in for (as I already said) seven months. Stark, somewhere along the line had gotten into trouble. I couldn't help. Believe me, I tried. I'd one foot out the door, when Fury yanked me back in and told me that if I left, he would send out a kill order.

Which turned out well enough. Stark got himself out of trouble. Somehow. That man would always find a way.

I kept updating Agent Taylor at secret meetings outside of the facility. Through many cups of coffee at various local cafes, we became good friends. I really liked her, especially her sense of humor. Her first name was Cathrine, but we got so close that I just called her Cat most of the time.

She was going on a dangerous mission that had been assigned by Councilman Pierce himself, and I was worried for her.

It was then that I was in an interrogation and Rumlow came in looking pleased with himself.

He told me he was going to be away for a few days. I told him that I hoped he had a good vacation. He left.

Twelve hours later, a phone call came for me.

It was Agent Taylor, sounding an unusual frantic.

"Hello?"

"Eve. Listen it's me. Something's gone wrong. You're the only one who can get here in time. Tell Fury. 1531 Moore Street. Brooklyn. Be car-" she was cut off.

I zapped off to find Fury but ended up leaving him a note. Funny how I couldn't trust technology.

Then I went to find Agent Taylor, wasting no time in getting to New York.

When I got to the address that she had given to me, I had to double check. It was a huge, empty warehouse, old and broken, falling into the ground. Not fit for human life. Or any life for that matter. It was dark now, still only about two in the morning.

Creepy as all get out.

There was only one person of interest inside the building, as a spell told me, so I entered, being careful.

I found Agent Taylor there, tied to a chair. Covered in blood.

"It's them. This whole mission was a setup. They're after me. They were going to kill me. Eve-"

"Shh. I know. I can hear someone." I started to untie her hands.

"All right. I'm gonna send you out of here. Find help. I'm gonna take them out."

"Okay."

I zapped her outside, and walked around the place using a small hand held fire as a light. It was completely empty.

Then I had the misfortune of looking up.

A glowing golden net fell down on my head.

I think they were trying to trap me, that they thought they had the right answer.

But no. It was just a fancy rope, and definitely did not hinder me whatsoever. But I could pretend, right?

"Damn it, I'm trapped!" I called in false surprise. "How did you know my weakness? Show yourselves!"

Sixteen men came out, Rumlow and fifteen lackeys. Another was out looking for Cat. Easy pickings. But, the fastest way to learn about what was going on would be to let them think they had won. Villains do tend to monologue. Everyone does upon victory.

"Don't try anything," Rumlow said darkly, emerging from a corner.

"Well, _I can't_ seeing as I've been caught," I said sarcastically, pulling a face to look like I was struggling.

It seemed to make Rumlow feel better, and he approached with some tricked out handcuffs. He pulled my arms behind my back and put them on. They made me feel a little tingly, but with little to no affect. I pretended that they hurt though.

"Where are you getting all of this working tech?" I gasped, editing my glamour to make me look sickly.

"Hydra has sources that SHIELD doesn't know about." He said.

"Hydra... Like the dragons? I met one once. I must say, not as great as the myths make them out to be," I replied, totally confused.

"No. Like the Nazi Secret Science Division." Well then.

"Well how should I know? It's hard enough keeping up with pop culture, I'm not expected to keep up with classified history too," I said.

"Is that so? Well, I'll give you a lesson, princess. Back when Hitler tried to take over the world, Johann Schmidt was focused on bigger things. He founded Hydra, and it lives on."

"Like a 'kill everyone' type thing?" I guessed.

He just chuckled.

"Like a 'start new and fix everything everyone screwed up kind of thing," he replied, sounding like a preacher.

"I don't get it. What do you mean start new?" I asked, fishing for more information. He pushed a lock of hair behind my ear. I resisted shocking him. I could still learn more.

"We're going to start over. No more corrupt bureaucracy. No more starving, while fat cats figure out how to make more money. We're gonna tear the world down and start fresh," he smiled. He actually thought that killing everyone was the answer. Some times, people scare me worse than anything that you'd see in space.

"But why do you need me? I have nothing to do with your planet," I questioned, taking control of the interrogation. These morons were giving me everything.

"Maybe, but you have power. We need you on our side. Whether or not you like it,"

"Which is why I'm in chains? How did you even find out about these things? Normal bindings don't work, you know."

"We got intel from someone who would know. An expert in Asgardian wares."

Not another one of those whack jobs. Bella Talbot had been bad enough, selling people _actual_ artifacts. This joker didn't even know what he was talking about.

"And?"

"You're Asgardian. Easy enough. There's no getting out of those." He smiled. Thinking he had won. Ha.

"Well, did you get a warranty?" I asked, suppressing a grin.

"Why?" He asked, completely unaware that he had been duped.

"Cause I've told you before. I'm not Asgardian. Check your mythology."

I thought that it would be unfair to use one blast of magic to take down all fifteen of them, so I conjured two short knives and let my glamour drop for an instant.

 _I am not Asgardian._

The chains disappeared.

When Agent Rumlow saw my true form, his eyes widened and he seemed to stop thinking for a minute.

"It's you-"

It made me wonder, but I barely paused.

I dodged and weaved every attack, speeding past Rumlow and starting at the back of the pack. I took out each guy individually, either slicing their throats or snapping their necks. It only took a few seconds. These were not SHIELD agents. Handing them over to the good guys couldn't do any good. One look said that they were bad people, and another said they were killers. I probably got shot a few times, but the spell that I was using stopped the bullets from connecting. At some point I realized that someone was fighting alongside me, covering where I couldn't. When there was only Rumlow left, Agent Taylor and I surrounded him.

"I didn't know you were so sloppy, Brock," she taunted as he held his gun up, pointing at her.

"No, he's just out of his league," I replied. "Not used to elven princesses kicking his ass."

Cat gave me a laugh.

The gun flew magically out of Rumlow's hands. A knife flew out of his shoe. One of my daggers lengthened into a sword and the other vanished. I held him at sword point.

"Today could be your day to die. Or you could tell me where you've seen my true form before."

I was impatient enough to let the blade cut into his skin for a second. He hesitated.

"Two days ago we got a transmission in. We don't know where from. You're wanted back home apparently, and they're willing to pay. Big money. You're supposed to be on your way to the drop off now."

So they had finally found out. Shit. Shit. _Shit._

I lowered the sword and hung Rumlow up in a net, dangling from a low rafter.

"Damn those elders. They'll have broken my anti-location spell by now. Gods know none of my spells have been working right lately. I have to get out of here. You good?"

Cat nodded and we walked away a good five feet so that Rumlow couldn't hear us. He was up in the net wiggling and cussing loudly.

"I'm gonna wipe his memory. You should go abroad for good measure. Tonight never happened. You know about Hydra now," I said.

Agent Taylor turned to Rumlow.

"You have anything to tell us?" She called.

"Why the hell should I tell you anything?" He called down. But the answer came into his head anyways. Right to the front. Easy to read.

I turned back to Cat.

"The Lumerian Star. It's a weak point. Tell Fury. I have to go. I'm _so_ sorry." She seemed to understand.

"Goodbye, Eve!" She called, as I ran out, pulling on a coat that appeared from thin air, and running out into the streets of Brooklyn.

"Stay safe, Cat!" I yelled, looking back one last time at Midgard.

"Wait!" She called. I was surprised by being enveloped in a hug, which I quickly returned. "Be careful, Eve. And for pity's sake, give me a call some time."

"I will. Swear to Odin," I replied, the bitter moment of saying a hasty goodbye to a best friend only making me hate the elders more.

"Good," She nodded, the stronger out of the two of us, keeping her head, as I fled almost blindly. "Now get out of here. God knows New York doesn't need any more aliens."

I gave her my most dazzling smile, and looked up at the stars. Before New York, I didn't have the power to transport between worlds by myself. Now I could.

Just another way my life had changed.

"Stay safe, Earth." My sentiment was lost in the windy streets of Brooklyn.

Time to head to Asgard.

There was work to do.

 _Anyone catch the Supernatural easter egg? same. Well, just another chapter of Eve's life. Shoutout to my very own Agent Taylor (you know who you are). I miss you lots and I hope that I'll see you more soon. Thanks all for reading and reviewing!_


	13. Valhalla

The throne of Odin rested high in the halls of Valhalla, and the All-father sat upon it, surveying the prisoner, clad in green and carrying heavy chains, as he came forward for his trial.

His wife stood to the side. He had warned her not to speak, not to grieve for Loki, because though he might have once been like a son to her, he now was a prisoner.

 _Nothing more._

The trickster must be rightfully punished.

Also present were the guards of the palace, the Einherjar. Never noticed until they were needed. As typically, not of interest, _save one_.

Frey Arathorn. A tall, fair-haired man who had been a guard at the palace for years. Or so everyone thought.

There never really _was_ a Frey Arathorn, just a clever girl who had enjoyed reading Lord of the Rings during her time on Midgard. But that was over now, and so she posed as a citizen, an ordinary Asgardian, until she saw her opportunity.

She stood beside Odin who sensed no disturbance. That was how absolute her ruse had become. She would have to keep it up for awhile longer. But _oh_ , how much she was tempted to reveal herself. A kind of kamikaze urge to let the guise slip because of the pressure. To see the moment of surprise on the face of the witnesses.

But this was no time for games. So, she stood, stoically, as all guards should.

The queen stepped forward.

"Loki." She seemed sad to see him in such a state.

"Hello Mother. Have I made you proud?" He knew the affect of his words on her. It was from her that he had learned almost all he knew. It was she who taught him magic, she who had made him see that being clever was just as good as being strong. It hurt him to mock her, but it was all a show for the All-father to watch.

"Please don't make this worse," she implored, trying to make him help himself.

"Define worse," was his reply, as nonchalantly as possible. Not caring about the people who had loved him his whole life, shrugging off their attempts to help.

Odin seemed to grow tired of their exchange.

"Enough! I will speak to the prisoner alone," he called coldly. The proceedings would go as they would for any other prisoner, that much would be made completely certain.

Frigga gave him a look, almost a warning to dare her to stand aside from her own son, but it had just as soon left before it could be considered rebellious.

Loki stepped forwards and rattled his chains, clanging them together so that the din echoed throughout the halls. He laughed.

The guards surrounding him dared not so much as smile in the presence of the All-father.

"I really don't see what all of the fuss is about," he said, almost laughing.

"Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes? Where ever you go, there is war, ruin, and death." The accusation hung thickly in the air.

It was clear in the prisoner's face, at least to some, that he did regret his decisions. But they had led him here. To where he wanted to be.

"I went down to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god. Just like you." Shots fired. It took quite a bit of guts to oppose the All-father. Even more if it was your own father. Guts, or an extreme will to die.

"We are not gods. We are born. We live. We die. Just as humans do."

His face was grave, and his words were truly those of a king, trying to be just.

"Give or take five thousand years." It was true, but pointing it out did not improve the temper of Odin.

"All this...because Loki desired a throne." He was mocking back now.

"It is my birthright!" Snapped Loki, his illusion of calm momentarily failing.

"Your birthright was to die!" Odin shouted. "As a child. Cast out onto a frozen rock. If I had not taken you in, you would not be here now to hate me." Ouch.

"If I'm for the axe, then for Mercy's sake, swing it. It's not that I don't love our little talks. It's just that... I don't love them." He stepped forward, to receive his punishment. As if he didn't already know what it was to be. He would not be killed, for his mother's sake, but they could not trust him to be out of prison or banished. So forever a prisoner he would be. A short forever if he had anything to say about it.

"Frigga is the only reason you're still alive, and you'll never see her again. You will spend the rest of your days in the dungeon." The prisoner felt remorse for his mother, but he pushed it away. Now, she was just a tool of Odin's, to shape his guilt and make him repentant.

"And what of Thor? You'll make that witless oaf king while I rot in chains?" He asked, knowing full well that criticizing the father's favorite son would only worsen his attitude.

"Thor must strive to undo the damage you have done. He will restore order to the nine realms. And then, yes, he will be king. Take him away."

The prisoner gave one last, long look at the man who was once his father and gave his best cunning smile. He was escorted out.

Followed by Eve Caster in her disguise.

 **XXXXX**

My new policy on Asgard was to stay in the middle. Not be too good. Not suck. But then also to not be too average. Not be a colorless personality. To have friends, just not many. Not enough to be remembered, but enough to pass under the radar.

The Einherjar (or the guards to you mortals) were generally easy to get along with, and left each other to their own most of the time.

I had passed the test so far. Stood right next to Odin, only breathing because if I didn't, it would be suspicious.

Then escorting Loki to the dungeons without him noticing. At least I hoped not. I was getting better all the time.

Life was easy as a guard. Also boring.

At least until the prison riot. I was on break, and the alarm sounded, so I rushed down, taking the stairs on the right of the prisoners, just missing the Kursed as he left up the left. I put some prisoners back into their place. Fighting felt good, finally stretching my legs and beating on someone who wasn't one of the model dummies that we were made to practice maneuvers on, or the fellow guards that we battled to practice sword play. I fought hard, but barely broke a sweat.

All while Loki watched. Sort of.

It was odd, how he hadn't been let out. Even an incredibly powerful and insane entity couldn't trust him.

I was still in the dungeon when the Queen died. I nearly collapsed with the rouge wave of emotion that Thor flung out when he saw it happen, even from nearly a mile away. I was completely blindsided. That was the first time I thought that I might have broken my cover. Loki had noticed me falter for no reason, but I had thought fast and made myself look injured, an he turned away with a bored look. It pained me to not be able to tell him, but I had no reason to reveal myself, especially with the elders still searching for me.

On the night of the funeral, I snuck out of the memorial to watch the guard tell the news to Loki, as I knew that he would not take it well. I was invisible when the guard told him.

"Sir. I come with grave tidings. Your mother, the queen, is dead. I'm sorry."

He gave a curt nod. The guard left, and I stood watching, invisible.

He paced into the center of his cell, his rage growing with every moment. Rage, mostly at himself, for allowing this to happen. But then, he was locked up and it was not his fault. So there were others to blame for this too. His anger spiked and he broke entirely, the furniture in his room scattering outward with a blast of magic as he lost control. His mind was unlocked for a moment, but I dared not enter, for it was a maelstrom, full of emotion, sadness mostly, and anger and regret. He was so lost. I wanted to go to him and comfort him, but I would not be able to get into the cell, much less get out, and I did not want to give up my cover.

It hurt to stay, so I left.

I decided that it would be a good idea to visit someone that I had met long ago.

I was outside of the observatory of the Bi-frost, deciding whether or not to go through with the visit, when I heard him speak for the first time.

"I can see all that is in the universe. You are no different, Eve Caster," the deep, male voice called. I entered to find Heimdall, the watchman of Asgard, inside, staring at the nebulous universe out of the observatory window.

He had known my father for a long time before I was around, almost like an uncle that I only rarely saw.

"The guise is not for your benefit, Heimdall," I told him jokingly. He smiled warmly.

"How do you find Asgard?" He asked.

"Just as I had remembered it. Though the loss of the queen has weighed heavily on them, I think," I said.

"She was a mother to us all. To lose her is to lose our heart. Especially to the king."

"I do not really care for him. Perhaps it it just my natural abhorrence for authority, but I find his empathy to be lacking," I added.

"I should think that you would feel as much. I have kept my eye on you for many a century, Lady Caster."

"On my father's orders?"

"No. For your own good. You have managed to get yourself into quite a few undesirable situations over the years."

"That I have. But I have also managed to get myself out of them."

"I know of your endeavors." He assured.

"Then you must promise me that you will not tell my father, or anyone else that I live and that I am here." I tried to keep my voice calm, but I knew that I probably sounded worried.

"I have not yet and do not plan to. But your concern is well met. They search for you. Soon, they will send a message to Asgard and I will be forced to turn them away. Your will is your own, and it needs to remain so, especially with the prophecy that has been issued."

I knew that soon the universe would be searching for me because of the prophecy. It would just make my life that much harder. But I would not willingly go home because of what Heimdall had said; they would twist my will to their own fortune, and force me to do things that I would not believe were right. It was reassuring to know that he would try to help me stay free.

"Have you knowledge of the full verse of the prophecy?" I asked curiously.

"The only information that I can gather is that it resides in the hall of records on Alfheim. It has been shielded by your elders," he told me, turning back to the sky.

"Thank you." I told him, truly meaning it. I felt much better now, knowing that I could count him as an ally.

"Do not thank me, just heed my word. This is not only about the prophecy. I have witnessed your interest in the trickster, Loki. Beware of him. He is not who you think he is."

Was that so? I trusted Heimdall, but I could handle myself now. I wasn't as young and soft hearted as he perhaps remembered.

"I know of his tricks, Heimdall. He will not fool me, I have seen to that much," I replied courteously.

"Do not underestimate his deceit. I would not be pleased to see your demise at his hands." Yikes.

"And I would not be pleased to see my demise at the hands of any. Thank you again." I told him.

"You are welcome. Do not hesitate to come again to seek counsel," he offered.

"You can't get rid of me that easily," I replied, turning invisible and leaving, just as Thor came walking down the rainbow bridge to have a chat with Heimdall. Probably about Jane Foster. I never had the pleasure of meeting her on Midgard, but I figured that the time had long since passed to do so, especially since she was being possessed by a highly powerful dark object. I went back to the palace for my shift on guard.

It was again boring work, staying quiet, staying in uniform.

So apparently everyone from Nick Fury to the gatekeeper of Asgard knew about my escapades. I might as well update my Facebook status to in a relationship. But something really seemed to be bothering Heimdall, something important...

Never mind. I had bigger things to worry about. Especially after the dark elves had attacked. The Captain of the Guard had died and a new one was to be hastily appointed. We had lost many men, and beyond that, Odin seemed to be losing his marbles upon the death of the queen. I guess you could say that she was his better half.

I was not particularly keen on the whole 'dark elf' idea either. They were creepy with their masks, and being more closely related to light elves than the Asgardians, they could probably see through my glamours and invisibility spells. Their leader, Maleketh, was particularly bad news. He would be able to smell me from a mile away. Almost literally. He was powerful enough to be able to sense my magic if I got too close.

No matter how eager I was to stay away from the dark elves, I was just as eager to help Thor. The Asgardian prince would need all the people on his side that he could get to secure the Aether, a weapon that I did not want in the wrong hands. Or my hands for that matter. Great power comes with great responsibility. And responsibility was one thing that I was not a fan of.

When I heard of his plan, I was all for it. Didn't say so of course. But I'd watch out for them if possible.

Another assignment as a guardian angel.

But not for him.

 _BAM. Okay, so I love Thor 2 SO much (i mean, ask anyone who knows me) and that's why we're back to running parallel to the mcu. Freaking love it. So much. SO yeah, if you share my enthusiasm, let me know, but I mean, seriously, thanks for reading and reviewing. Peace out homies._


	14. Fight and Flight

Jane was _not_ feeling well. Along with the visions and headaches came a dizziness that made it hard to concentrate on anything. She was confused by the guard coming towards her, not walking at all like a guard. No one else seemed to notice at all when he came in.

The guard pulled of his helmet with one hand, and almost as like a piece of paper was being torn, the disguise fell away and suddenly there was a tall girl standing in front Jane, her long, blonde hair falling onto her armored shoulders.

"Gods, these Asgardins and their stupid hats, am I right?" She laughed, smiling a little to herself and coming closer to Jane. The guards still saw nothing.

"Who are you?" She asked carefully, unsure of this new character. So far, all of the magic she had seen had been amazing, but she didn't exactly trust it. She liked to be able to understand, to be able to explain why and how things worked, but this... Fairytales weren't exactly scientific. ANd there were a hell of a lot of people who wanted her dead right now. Definitely good to take the cautious side.

Jane stood, a little shaky. The guards didn't notice her getting up or talking either.

"Eve Caster. I'm here to help," said the young woman. She didn't look particularly threatening, in fact, she had some kind of spark of happiness, of _goodness,_ that made it evident that she was on the side of the heroes.

"How? The healers told me that there wasn't anything that they could do," Jane asked.

"Well, I'm not exactly what you would call a healer," replied Eve. Again, her face shimmered to reveal another look, this one with sharper lines and pointed ears. An elf. But not one of the dark ones. She somehow looked prettier that way. More like she was herself.

She reached over, putting two fingers on Jane's forehead, and began to whisper in another language, one that sounded ancient. The headache abated almost immediately, and Jane sighed in relief, not noticing Eve's face go pale.

"Thank you," she said gratefully.

"Don't thank me yet. That was just to take the edge off. I can't get rid of the Aether, but this should help keep it from destroying your life force."

"What did you do?"

"Well, like I said, I'm no healer, but I did transfer some of my power to you. Part of me. It won't last long, but it should be enough. They're on their way to bust you out now," Eve said, moving her hands to apparently work some kind of spell.

"Thor?" She asked, somewhat excitedly.

"Sif. Thor will meet us at the ship," she said, smiling a bit at Jane's reaction. Thor and Jane made a cute couple.

"You're coming too?" Jane asked, picking up on the plan.

"Yeah. Like I said. That power won't last long. You'll need more help. And moral support. It's gonna get rough. Don't tell anyone that I'm there though," she added quickly.

"I won't, but why?" Jane asked.

"I have a bit of a uh-history. Let's just say that not everyone would be too happy to see me. It'll take too long to explain," Eve finished, noticing the look Jane was giving her. The topic was clearly closed. Jane frowned. There was something that Eve wasn't telling her. A guard came into the room and looked around, holding a tray.

"I'm not hungry," Jane said, trying to dismiss him as quickly as possible.

The guard crumpled to the ground as someone hit him over the head from behind.

"Good. Let's go."

Sif motioned for Jane to follow, and Eve led the group out.

 **XXXXX**

"When you see Loki, slap him in the face for me, won't you? I can't do it without breaking my cover," I quietly asked Jane.

"Why?" She whispered, glancing at Sif to see if she could hear any of our conversation. She couldn't. I had made sure of it.

"Well, I could say something noble, like for New York, but really, it's cause he's a jackass. Trust me. It'll be satisfying."

Sif, the warrior maiden, led us through what seemed like a labyrinth of hallways, one that had become familiar to me over the past few weeks. She stayed quiet. Mostly, I expect because she was jealous of Thor's affection for Jane. _Awkward._

We were drawing close to the rendezvous point, and I could see the two figures waiting there, one in cuffs. As we got close, Jane took a step towards Loki. He got a clever glint in his eye.

"You're-" she began.

"Loki. You may have heard of me," he finished.

She slapped him right across the face.

"That was for New York," she said.

"I like her." He replied to Thor.

Cheeky little bastard.

Guards came from two directions after us.

"I'll hold them off. Take her," Sif motioned. Time for us to go.

"Thank you," Thor replied, taking Jane along towards the ship.

I was just about to follow them when Sif stuck out her sword and held Loki behind it, very nearly accidentally impaling me.

"Betray him, and I _will_ kill you," she threatened.

"It's good to see you too Sif," he replied in a mocking tone. His spirits seemed to have lifted since he was let out of prison.

We continued, half running down the halls, towards the Dark Elven Harrow Ship that was our destination. Malekith had left it after he had crashed, and that made it perfect for our use.

When we finally arrived at the plaza, Volstagg, a heavyset ginger warrior and previous ally of Thor's, was waiting for us.

"I will give you as much time as I can," he told us.

"Thank you, my friend," Thor replied. Volstagg nodded to Jane, but again, Loki was held back.

"If you even _think_ about betraying him-"

"You'll...kill me? Evidently there will be a line," he replied. There already was one. And I was at the front of it.

We boarded the ship as the Einherjar came running from all directions. Volstagg reluctantly drew his sword.

On the ship, there was (unsurprisingly) more arguing between Thor and Loki. Jane was standing in the corner, apparently on the verge of having another episode. I could still hear them arguing while I worked on healing her.

"I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing," Loki mused.

"I said 'how hard could it be?'" Thor replied.

"Stay with me here, Jane," I whispered. Her eyes were fluttering. They were beginning to take on a red tinge because of the object possessing her. Creepy. I was working as fast as I could to help.

"Well, whatever you're doing, I suggest that you do it faster," Loki rushed, seeing as the ship had still not turned on yet. He was right. Outside, the noises of the guards were getting louder. And Jane was getting worse.

"Shut up Loki," Thor replied, very graciously.

"You must have missed something," he replied.

"I didn't. I'm pressing every button on this thing," Thor said, beginning to get frustrated. He slammed more buttons as quickly as he could.

"No, don't hit it, just press it. Gently," Loki told him.

"I am pressing it gently! It's not working!" Thor roared, pounding random buttons and overall not helping.

"Oh for gods' sakes, you absolute IDIOTS," I called, invisible and silent, running over to the panel and flipping a large lever that clearly turned the ship on.

"Ha ha!" Thor yelled.

"You're welcome," I replied.

The ship began to lift at his command. It rotated around the plaza, taking out columns along the way.

"Jeez. Somebody didn't pass driver's ed," I muttered.

"I think you missed a column," Loki announced.

"Shut up," Thor shot back, trying to right the ship. He turned around, and shot out into the open sky of Asgard, still struggling.

"Look, why don't you let me take over. I'm clearly the better pilot."

I didn't doubt that, as Thor's driving was making me a bit car sick. Or spaceship sick. Whatever.

"Is that so? Out of the two of us, which one can actually fly?"

Jane began to stagger and fainted completely.

"Damn it," I muttered. The Aether was burning through the extra part of my energy that I had given Jane faster than anything I had ever heard of before.

"Oh dear. Is she _dead_?" Loki asked, unconcernedly.

"I could _so_ hit you right now," I told him between spells, even though he couldn't hear. It still made me feel better.

"Jane!" Thor called.

One of the spells set in, and she stirred.

"I'm okay," she mumbled weakly. I worked even more feverishly, summoning some herbs from thin air.

Thor crashed into the top of a building. Men and their driving skills. Totally not the superior drivers.

"Not a word," he silenced, as Loki opened his mouth with an unruly response.

Three Asgardian skiffs appeared, full of guards, just behind us.

"Now they're following us," Loki stated, obviously.

The skiffs opened fire.

"Now they're firing at us," he added.

"Yes, thank you for the commentary, Loki. It's not at all distracting," Loki's sarcasm seemed to be rubbing off on his sibling.

A low dip of the left wing on the way into a tunnel took off the head of a statue.

"Congratulations! You've just decapitated your grandfather," Loki stated.

The ship was practically limping along now, from all of the crashes and shots it had taken.

We exited the tunnel into open air again, now next to a bridge with the city behind us.

"You know, this is wonderful. This is a _tremendous_ idea. Let's steal the biggest, most obvious ship in the universe and escape in that. Flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so everyone can see us. It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brilliant-" I laughed a bit at the look of shock on Loki's face as Thor threw him out the open door, screaming. He picked Jane up and followed. I set the autopilot for the nearby mountains with only the flip of a switch, and jumped off, following the brothers.

I free fell for several hundred feet, guided by the wind, and landed on a skiff that was now lagging behind the previously doomed vessel.

"I see that your time in the dungeons has made you no less graceful, Loki," laughed Fandral, another one of Thor's closest friends. He was blonde and dashing, fit to be a buccaneer.

Loki ignored him and turned to watch as the Harrow ship headed for the mountains, with all three Einherjar skiffs following it.

"You lied to me. I'm impressed."

"Well, you shouldn't be. It's not hard," I replied in the short silence that followed.

"I'm glad you're pleased. Now take us to your secret pathway," Thor replied, casting a worried glance at Jane, who was now resting on the bench of the ship, hardly conscious.

What he couldn't tell was that he was looking straight through little invisible me, saying just about every other spell that I knew to try and stop the Aether from destroying Jane's soul. Not much.

I felt the boat pick up speed and fly more smoothly, as the driver changed. We split off to the right. Suddenly, we started skimming back and forth and speeding up to avoid a stream of plasma that flew by. Oh great. More guards.

We flew higher to avoid them.

"Fandral," Thor said.

In response, he sighed, and gave an exasperated glance.

"Right. For Asgard," Fandral said, sarcastically, as he grinned and grabbed a rope, saluting the sombre group and jumping off of the side, onto the enemy skiff. I grinned.

Our speed continued to rise at a frightening pace, and we were coming to a dead end. Emphasis on the dead, if we didn't slow down soon.

Thor noticed it too.

"Loki," he warned.

"If it were easy, everyone would do it," he said, in total concentration.

"Are you mad?" Thor asked, as we began to come within crashing distance. A small opening was just barely showing through a crack in the cave wall.

"Possibly," he replied, looking incredibly manic, steering with such focus that he didn't take his eyes off of the cave.

"More like probably, I think."

Jane smiled a little at my invisible sarcasm, although she was barely conscious. She was doing a tad better under my care.

Thor moved to protect her, as we hit the gap head on, flying through, the sides of the skiff grinding against the walls and creating a rainbow effect, not unlike the Bifrost.

Suddenly, we dropped out, bumping into land below, black sand spraying everywhere.

"Ta-da," Loki called as we touched down, apparently safe for the time being.

"No, I take that back. You are definitely insane," I said. I was forced to put Jane into a deep sleep to silence the Aether, as it had sensed its arrival home, to its master, and had gotten excited. Again, creepy.

I quietly worked. The sky stretched in brackish clouds in all directions over the dark, ashen plains. The light was eerie, pale even at near high-noon. There was a poison in this land. The others couldn't feel it, but since I was a creature of the light, the darkness in the air of this planet leeched into my soul and painfully stuck in my throat. It was killing me. Literally.

The dark was something that you feared as a child, someplace for the monsters to lurk, something that you were forced to end every day with before you went to sleep. And the Dark Elves were borne of the first darkness, the only thing that there was before there was light. They were the darkest shade, their souls the deepest, unknowable hue. And not unlike when you turn on the light after being in the dark for awhile, the bright flame of my spirit would briefly illuminate me in the eyes of any Dark Elf that would happen to lay eyes on me, regardless of whether or not I was concealed by magic.

Or at least that was how the stories went.

You mortals would probably, with all of your science or what not, just call it thermal imaging. Heat sensing, maybe. My body temperature always ran hot.

I think that my definition was better.

But either way, Maleketh would be able to sense my power from a ways away, so I would have to leave soon. Just a few more things with Jane, I reasoned.

Not only was it dark, but it was cold. Thor laid a blanket down over her. Loki looked on with a surprising disdain.

"What I could do with the power that flows through those veins," he mused, still steering the ship. He wanted the power. But more than that, he wanted to test his brother's attachment to Jane. I didn't have to be psychic to be able to tell where this conversation was going.

"It would consume you," Thor immediately replied.

"She's holding up alright. For now," he contemplated.

"You're welcome," I said, to nobody who could hear me.

"She's strong in ways you'd never know about," Thor replied, with a hint of pride.

"Say goodbye," Loki stated plainly, like there was a bad taste in his mouth.

"Not this day," Thor replied, beginning to get agitated.

"This day, the next, a hundred years, it's nothing. It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you prized will be snatched from you," Loki replied maliciously. He seemed almost... Worried? Was this whole conversation started because he was worried that he would lose me? Probably not... Just... _Gloating._

"And will that satisfy you?"

"Satisfaction's not in my nature," he replied, almost as though rehearsed, a line that he had told himself over and over to push away love.

"And surrender's not in mine," responded Thor immediately. At least he was willing to fight for the woman he loved. Take some notes, Loki.

"The son of Odin..."

Thor rose at the mocking words.

"No. Not just of Odin. You think you alone were loved of mother? You had her tricks, but I had her trust," he replied. Bringing up their mother was probably not a good idea in their present state.

"Trust? Was that her last expression? Trust? When you let her die?" he questioned, his voice sharp.

"What help were you in your cell?" Thor baited.

"Who put me there? WHO PUT ME THERE?" He yelled, his cool attitude finally breaking. I guess that he was right. Everyone snaps eventually.

"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL. YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHO," Thor yelled, cornering Loki on the skiff. He raised his arm to strike, as I tensed, ready to spring into action, but after a minute of glaring, he put it back down, and stepped away. Good thing this wasn't a stealth mission.

"She wouldn't want us to fight," Thor said, regretting his hot temper.

"She wouldn't exactly be shocked," Loki said with a hint of a smile.

The pair seemed to quietly recollect over shared memories of childhood, both of them lost briefly in thought.

"I wish I could trust you," Thor said, a familiar sentiment among siblings. A sort of want to confide in them, prevented by an understanding of how real life worked. I have five of them. I know how it goes.

"Trust my rage," Loki replied quietly, to Thor's back.

A shiver went down my spine. We were getting close. I could feel it. And that meant that it was time for me to go. I took the sleeping spell off of Jane, and took one long, last look back at the brothers that were setting out to take out one of the most powerful beings in the universe. I hoped that they would be careful. Like that could ever happen.

"Good luck," I whispered to the stirring figure of Jane. But I knew that good fortune would never be enough.

 _SOOOO yeah. Just gotta say that this chapter was so fun to write. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Also, just saying, but Eve still missed all the spoilers from Thor (one) and she doesn't actually know that Loki is a frost giant. Anywayyyy peace out homies. Have a good day/night/week/weekend._


	15. Sparks

Three figures stood on what might have once been a mountain, now little more than a hill, in the wasteland that was Svartalfheim, surveying the scene below them.

Loki was deep in thought.

It had happened when they were getting off of the broken skiff, abandoning the Asgardian vessel until they might once again have use of it.

Loki, still in his chains had offered a hand to help Jane out of the ship. She had looked him up and down, her eyes now a deep red from the power of the Aether. She detested him, he knew, and if it weren't for the fact that she could hardly stand, she would not have accepted his help. But as it was, Thor was preoccupied with rummaging for something in the hull of the ship, so she had little choice.

As their hands touched, a brief shock of white light burst into Loki's palm, and warmed it. Jane didn't seem to notice, but he was sure of what he had seen.

It hadn't hurt, actually, completely the opposite. It had brought a blissful feeling, of life and joy. Something oddly familiar.

It most definitely was not from the Aether, which was only a force of destruction. Why would Jane have that kind of magic? He studied her carefully for a moment. She was holding up remarkably well for a mortal who was sustaining such a strong power source. He looked with a careful eye, studying for any signs of spellwork. Surprised, he realized that she had been healed, with careful, advanced handiwork, that was neatly hidden in the folds of her clothing, nearly invisible, even to his trained eye. Who could-

And then the answer came to him. Why a lever had flipped on it's own to power the Harrow ship. Why Jane was not dead. Why he had felt through this whole journey, perhaps longer, that someone was laughing at him silently. It was Eve. It was all Eve Caster.

But he hadn't noticed her.

She was getting better. He grinned in spite of himself.

"What are you smiling about?" Thor asked, finally jumping out of the broken skiff.

"The weather. Isn't it lovely?" He replied, not bothering to leave his train of thought about Eve to come up with a decent answer.

"Let's keep moving," Thor's only response, as he warily eyed his brother, worrying over the battle that was sure to come.

Loki, meanwhile, resolved to ask Jane about Eve, but knew that he would have to wait until Thor left again. If he used magic to mute him, Thor would likely realize that something was going on, and assume that it was the beginning of a betrayal.

The whole plan was a play, a dramatic scene meant to go quickly as to not create any suspicion. They each had their role, and though the details were not ironed out, it was still a passable tactic.

And so once it began, there was no time to waste. But an opportunity came when the Aether had first been drawn out, when the penny dropped and the curtain fell, and the Aether was shattered.

Loki ran and skidded in the rough rock of the land, shielding Jane from the blow that was to come from the breaking infinity stone. He was sure that no one else could hear.

"Have you met Eve Caster?" He asked quickly, whispering. "Is she the one who healed you?"

She would not, Jane decided, reveal her friend, someone who had helped her so much. Not after she had expressly asked her not to.

But her response no longer mattered. One look from Jane was enough, and he knew. Jane saw the strange spark in his eyes, and was puzzled, again curious about how Eve was woven into this mess.

Loki was just as curious as to where she was now. Had he missed her again?

But there was no time to waste. Something wasn't right.

He watched as the Aether re-formed, and Maleketh held its power. He was in trouble yet again. But this took him right to where he wanted to be.

He had a death to fake.

 **XXXXX**

Back on Asgard, everything was tense. The elves were possibly poised to attack again. The queen was dead. Thor was leading a suicide mission. Loki was missing from his cell. Frey Arathorn (my cover) was noticed as being late for a shift. I had to do some quick thinking to cover it up. Hours ticked by. It felt more like days.

They had sent a search party to the Dark World to look for anything that they might find there. I was sitting, invisible, in the throne room, waiting for news, when the first report came back.

A soldier came in through the gigantic doors at the far end of the hall. I picked my head up.

It was him.

There are some things that a glamour can't hide. The way you walk. Or smile. Or gloat. A million tiny tells that can give someone away, even if their magic is incredibly strong. And this? There was no way for Loki to hide the simpering smile that he was trying to avoid.

"Forgive me, My Liege. I have returned from the dark world with news," said Loki, disguised as a guard.

"Thor?" Odin asked, his priorities proving that he was, in this moment, more of a father than a king.

"There is no sign of Thor. Or the weapon, but..." His voice trailed off. Probably for dramatic effect. What an actor. He deserves an Oscar.

"What?" Odin asked, attentive to the next words.

"We found a body."

"Loki..." Odin said softly. He seemed more upset than he should have, for someone who was a prisoner to him. He looked tired. And sick. This was a lot for anyone to bear, much less someone who was aging so severely.

And then there was Loki himself. What a liar. Now he was faking his death? That wasn't even original. I mean, I had done it ages ago.

But what exactly was he planning next?

"Dismissed," ordered Odin. Loki strode out, smiling darkly.

I left to get some sleep.

The whole convergence passed me by while I was in the palace on guard duty. There was nothing that I could do to help. Odin had again sealed the bi-frost, and I was under watch for going missing the last time.

Thor had won (although I had predicted that, seeing as the good guys almost always did). He was sorting things out with Odin in the throne room. I hoped that he would be allowed to see Jane again.

Meanwhile, I was currently lounging in my rooms.

A knock came at my chamber entrance.

 _ARE YOU READY? If you like what you've read so far, then the next chapter is gonna be HUGE. Writing the next chapter was a huge challenge, but I am rather proud of the way that it turned out. Sorry that this chapter was so short, but all its really doing is setting up for what comes next. Sorry for being over enthusiastic. But thanks for reading and reviewing! Peace out homefries._


	16. All Will be Revealed

The doors of the hall burst open, and a half dozen Einherjar barged in, dragging a blonde figure, bound in chains, like a rag doll. She could hardly keep up with their brisk pace, and the clanging of chains echoed painfully in the ears of all witnesses.

The honor-guard had also seen better days, as many were cut and bleeding in several places, even limping. They were led by the new captain of the guard, a tall, lean man with short cropped, Asgardian-blonde hair. He stood proudly before the procession as it stopped.

The All-father sat in his throne, totally aloof, surveying the scene.

"Sir. We did as you requested. She is secured in the most powerful bindings we have," The captain declared. He was freshly appointed. Young and willing, and proud to do good work for his kingdom. He had several bruises beginning to form, including a black eye. He didn't seem to pay any mind.

The girl looked up for the first time. Her blonde hair was mixed with blood from a cut on her forehead. She had a split lip, and her left shoulder was conspicuously dislocated.

But still, her steely green eyes blazed with a fire that seemed unwilling to go out.

"Why is she injured so?" Odin asked, his voice echoing deeply in the halls of Valhalla.

"She fought back, sir. It took twenty of our men to stop her from fleeing. She nearly fooled us with a glamour-"

"My glamour isn't the one you ought to be worried about," smirked the girl darkly, interrupting with a glare to challenge the All-father, her voice clear despite her injured state.

"Do you think they'd give me a medal for service if I told them?" She asked, to no one in particular. It was a careful threat, aimed at Odin, just a hint that something might possibly be wrong in paradise.

She seemed almost insane now, like an angel that was tethered and pulled down from heaven. A bird with crumpled feathers that a cruel child had plucked out. Broken, but yet intent upon a vengeance of some form. Something even more than the injuries that she had clearly inflicted upon the guards.

The captain pushed her down on her knees by her injured shoulder. She had to bite down on her swollen lip to avoid crying out.

Now, she glared up from the polished floor at the All-father with a gaze that he would have sworn could see through to his soul. He tried not to shudder. After all, that wasn't what a king would do, was it?

"Guards. Dismissed," Odin ordered.

"Sir, are you certain-"

" _Dismissed_ ," Odin seethed, beginning to lose his temper.

The captain looked like he wanted to argue further, but eventually decided that it wasn't his place. They limped out uniformly, careful of their still tender injuries.

The doors closed once again behind the last of them.

Eve was left in her chains. Alone before the king.

His figure began to shimmer, and Loki revealed his true form.

She tried her best not to let her smile show, rising from her knees, dropping the act of being tired.

They stared at each other for a moment.

He noticed how she held the chains like they were nothing, compared to the massive weight that they really were. And with a dislocated arm.

He would know from experience that they drowned out her magic. That they made her weak. But she ignored them almost like they weren't there. Was she showing off?

Or were his most powerful shackles really not enough to contain her?

"They made it seem like it would be harder to find you than this," he started, echoing the words that she had spoken more than a year ago. The first words that she had said to him since they were children.

Her eyes flashed, sparking something that drowned out the near madness that had previously been in them, transferring the insanity into something... Different. It was in her posture, hiding in the corners of her smile, something perhaps even more alive. He could see her thinking, though he could no longer hear her thoughts, sadly. A smile played on her bleeding lips.

"The captain of the guard didn't seem to think so. I think he resented the fact that I had been under his nose the whole time," she replied smugly. It seemed that she had enjoyed the conflict with the fifty (not only twenty) Einherjar who were sent after her. Those twenty had been the only ones left able to walk.

And to think that the battle had only lasted for three minutes.

"Ah. But it is a bit difficult to ignore such an infamous child of prophecy," he replied. "In fact, I've just received the most- _unusual_ message from Alfheim." It was, this time, an outright threat. A problem that he knew she was desperately fleeing from.

Her face involuntarily paled a bit, although her smile grew.

"You're not going to turn me over to Alfheim," she smirked, again.

"What makes you so sure?" He asked, almost curious, but still with a slightly ominous edge.

"You crave power," she stated.

He knew that it was true. He couldn't deny such an imposing part of his character.

"And look where it's gotten me," Loki smiled, gesturing to the throne that he was standing over. The room glowed golden in the sunlight that was now collapsing onto the throne before night could fall.

He started down the stairs.

"All that I see is a lonely man and a piece of rock," she replied, watching him come nearer, her blood charging in her veins.

"Is that such a problem?" He answered, intentionally keeping his steps tortuously slow. "Is lonely such a bad thing to be?"

"Perhaps not for you," Eve replied. "But it's nearly driven me mad."

"Oh, really?" He asked.

Now level with her, he circled around. She looked straight ahead at the golden throne, even as he lightly touched her injured shoulder. It healed instantly with his touch. She breathed a sigh of relief. Then responded.

"All the years that I spent on Midgard, all alone..." She trailed off, lost in thought. Of him. And the prophecy. And back to him.

He slowly came to rest in front of her, and lightly traced the long and deep slice that ran across her right temple. This too closed, and the blood disappeared from her soft blonde hair.

His fingers were cold.

She turned her gaze and looked at him. As much as she would deny it, she had missed this. Putting herself so close to him, but never being allowed to reach out had been torture. But now he was here. So close. She felt her split lip mend as he looked at her, slyly smiling. He took a step closer.

Then faltered. His eyes grew stormy.

"Do you know the full verse of the prophecy?" He asked, trying to make it seem like that was what he was worried about. She caught the lie, but didn't say anything. He was still hiding something.

"No," she answered honestly.

"But you know where it's kept," he prompted.

"And why would you want to know?" She asked defensively, still wondering why he had pulled away, becoming more agitated, not bothering to doubt her confidence in herself. She knew how much he wanted her. More than he wanted all the power of Asgard.

"Because I'm going with you to get it," he stated. Like he had a choice.

"I'm not taking you-"

"Yes you are. There is nothing that I can do to prevent you from going. So the best way to protect you is to go with you," he reasoned.

Then she took control of the situation.

"If you care so much as to protect me, then why do you keep me pushing away?" She asked. "What have I done to deserve such separation from you?" His face again grew dark.

"It is nothing that you have done... But more something that I must do. For your safety." His voice was careful not to give anything away.

"But to save me from what? What could be so terrible that you fear it like this?" She implored.

She could tell that they were close to the heart of the topic now. What had been causing him so much pain for so long.

He sighed quietly, deeply, but softly took her hand, as the chains around her wrists and neck vanished.

He led her to the foot of the throne, where they sat. He wouldn't meet her eyes.

"I want to see your true form," he asked quietly, without emotion, bracing himself for something.

She silently obliged, her glamour dispelling into nothing.

She felt his eyes searching her face, memorizing it, the way someone might before they would have to say good bye for a very long time, taking in the details as to remember them after they were lost.

"You will not love me after you know."

He was already accepting his fate.

He had been for some time.

"From the first moment on Midgard that I laid eyes on you, I knew that it would be a curse to me," he said, his tone hollow. "I swore that I would not let you get close. That I would not give my demons to someone so pure. So perfect. You deserve better than a beast such as me." The silence of the room filled the pauses in his speech. Eve dared not interrupt.

"But I was tempted by the dark. I could have you. So long as I kept my secrets. As long as you didn't know who I really was, you could be mine. I could be happy as long as I lived a lie." As he spoke, she could feel the waves of emotion radiating from him. His loss was etched into his eyes.

"It's all right," she spoke soothingly, trying to ease his suffering. Instead, it sparked something like pain. He rose, agitated, the act of calm failing.

"No. It will never be alright. Not for me. I'm a poison to all I touch. Nothing can change me. Nothing." His voice was bitter, and he spat out the words. He would not turn around to face her.

"I'm a monster." He was quiet, and his voice was a storm raging with emotions. He was totally lost in despair, sadness, complete anguish.

Loki turned to face Eve. A tear fell as he looked at the only thing that he loved in the universe. She was so beautiful, the twilight shrouding her like a halo, reflecting in the silent tears running down her cheeks. The lips that he had only once slipped from his vows and allowed himself to taste...

He closed his eyes and felt the change run through him. The silent transformation into the beast that haunted his dreams.

His skin faded to blue, and he opened his eyes.

They were not the crystalline, perfect shade that she so loved, but now a deep red. The color of blood. The tears were gone from his eyes, though his expression remained mournful. He was trying to prepare himself for her repulsion to who he truly was.

"A frost giant," she breathed, her eyes widening in surprise. Now she knew what Heimdall had tried to warn her about.

Loki wanted her to hate him, to push him away in disgust, so that he would not have to force her to abandon him.

"Now you see me as I am," he said quietly, turning away from her.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"No." I stood, my face set, standing to meet him as he turned around, not expecting anything other than a reprimand.

"What?" He was completely taken aback.

"No," I responded again, my voice sounding stronger, as I found the conviction that I was looking for in his lost eyes. "I see you now as I always have. It makes no difference what the frost giants have done. Maybe they're monsters, but that doesn't mean that you are one too. You once asked me why I left home. I can answer that now. The Light Elves are a cold people. They don't spare the innocent or the children. They train anyone with power to be used as weapons against their enemies. They slaughter in cold blood and sentence anyone who opposes them to death. I'm not pure. I am one of them. Forever. I was made to kill and manipulate and be cruel by them. It was in my blood before even that. If you're a monster, then that makes me one too," I finished.

He didn't let himself hope that I could be right. Instead he let his lost thoughts try to find a way to contradict me.

"You left that. You turned away from it. It's not who you are," he said coolly.

"I don't exactly see you on the throne of Yodenheim at the moment," I retorted.

He wanted to yell at me. To tell me that I was wrong. That he was broken, irreparable. That he had already given up too many chances to be a good person. Wanted to lash out, to harm me so that I would stay away.

Stay safe.

I almost wanted to let him.

"Look at me." He said, his voice trembling like it was going to break. " _Look at me_." He insisted in anguish.

I couldn't pretend that I wasn't shocked. That my first instinct wasn't to turn away. I was taught from a small child to hate them, to fear them, the scum of the universe. Ragged and terrible warriors, sparing no one, killing the injured. Children even. Sly and wicked in their workings, cruel to the point of their own extinction. And he was one of them. A frost giant. He always had been. It all made sense. His self loathing, the attempted genocide, the pure and whole hatred for Odin, his surely adopted Father. Not even to mention Thor.

But then, the people who had taught me all of that were all but bestial themselves.

I looked at him, really looked, beyond the blood red eyes and the blue skin, the marks carved into his flesh in the language of the Frost Giants. Even changed, everything, every part of him was heartbroken. He was lost. He had finally learned who he really was. And he _abhorred_ it.

But there was nothing wrong with him. Nothing that wasn't wrong with me. With everyone. I forced myself past those thoughts. I reached out a hand and cupped his cheek. He gave me an incredibly sad smile. I was sure that I returned it.

"I am looking at you. What I see is someone like me. A face. Hands. Eyes. Lips. No difference."

" _Then look more closely,_ " he insisted, shaking his head and moving my hand away, trying to force me into losing him, trying to keep arguing.

I was tired of it.

There was a voice, something in the back of his mind that told him to stop fighting. To give in to me.

Whether or not he realized it, that voice was mine.

"Forget it. Forget about what I see. _Close your eyes_ ," I commanded. He obliged, quietly, and I took his hand and put it over my heart, his soft skin as cold as snow, spreading an icy pattern of frost across my chest, a brisk and freeing cold.

"What do you _feel?_ " I asked.

"Your heart," he whispered. His spoke so softly that I almost couldn't hear it, and his tone was so incredibly despondent, so wretched, that I felt more tears softly fall down my cheeks.

I moved my hand over his chest, and felt the strong, steady beat under my palm, constant and beautiful, a sign of life.

"It's exactly the same as yours. Listen to me now," I began. As I started talking, I held his hand up, and watched as he changed back into the man I knew, his eyes still closed. I simultaneously let myself fade back into Asgardian form.

"On Midgard, I learned something. Everyone has faults. Everyone is broken in some way. There's no perfect people who always do the perfect thing. There's no one who's without sin. The same goes for the rest of the universe. It's called being human," I finished.

This earned me a small smile. He opened his eyes. Blue and perfect.

"And what do they call it when someone has done no wrong?" He asked, calming down.

"They call it impossible, I suppose," I replied. I was looking into his face again, the unfathomable blue eyes reminding me of the first time I had seen them.

"Sounds just like you," he said, smiling lightly.

He pulled me in tightly, carefully, and our lips met without hesitation. We knew what we wanted, and this time, both of our hearts were in the kiss. For a moment, nothing else mattered. Not the prophecy, or the throne, or the secrets. It felt good to finally be needed, wanted by someone, accepted, and no longer among strangers. I felt him almost as though from a distance, his strong arms wrapping around me, his heavy armor gone, instead, lean muscles moving under my hands. I ran my fingers through his soft hair, shuddering in a good way as he traced his fingers down my spine. I felt my ponytail fall down softly onto my shoulders. My clothes were torn from my battle with the Einherjar, and where our skin met, it was practically fire against ice, my blood running hot, and his running cold. He felt so perfect next to me, like we were made for this.

I realized that for the first time in a long time, that I was happy. Really, truly happy. For the first time since I had left home, I didn't have to joke or pretend, or use sarcasm to make myself laugh halfheartedly. There was no great weight on my shoulders. Nobody to save.

Just us, together at last.

I wanted, needed, it to last for just a little longer. I felt myself become more insistent, and we came together more closely, if that much was possible. I stopped worrying that the moment would end, as the kiss turned deeper.

Loki had been wrong.

Everything could be all right.

I would make sure that it was.

 _heyyyyy. so yeah, hope you enjoy this bit. next, we go on a quest (which is different from a journey btw), and its gonna be rly cute. I feel like eve's grown up so much from when I started writing her :') funny story, if you know me in real life, ask me some time where I got the idea for this story, my first ever fanfiction. I may or may not tell you. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing, and I hope that you've enjoyed the road so far. Peace out homefries_

 _-j._


	17. Family Matters

The next morning, I packed my array of gear, and met Loki in a small hangar on the outside of the palace grounds. There would be no way to use the bi-frost without Heimdall noticing me, and given that he knew about my relationship with Loki, he could probably guess who my companion was, even if I used a glamour. We would escape on a similar skiff to the one that Jane and Thor had used. Loki hadn't told me what his plans for ruling Asgard were while we on our quest. He had just said that he would handle it, which made me uneasy.

What had happened to Odin? These were troubling times in the kingdom.

I had totally packed anything that mattered to me, despite that the plan called for us to be coming back to Asgard. If I got a good heading of where I needed to go from the prophecy, I would ditch Loki and go there myself. I didn't want him to get himself killed for my sake, and besides, this was my destiny, not his, right?

By the time I got into the hangar he was waiting for me.

He had already donned his disguise, an official Asgardian military officer's uniform still in his typical green, as well as the stupid hat _du jour_ , which he held at his side, a helm of silver which probably denoted some kind of military importance. His hair was now cut short, more like a Midgardian style. It suited the angles of his face and his sharp cheek bones, and made him look much younger. I realized I was staring.

"You look rather dashing," I commented, throwing my bag onto the skiff, which was already hovering a few feet off the ground.

"As do you," he replied, smiling. My hair was pulled back, capped with a braided knot, and I wore long, green Asgardian robes that matched his. I thanked him with a small smile.

He offered a hand to help me onto the skiff, pulling me up easily.

I sat down on the bench next to him, as he began to steer us out into open sky. Compared to the last time that we had been flying one of these things, the smooth ride was peaceful.

I guess that everything is nicer without people shooting at you.

"So remind me again, how did we get invited to the place that we're trying to sneak into?"

"Well, there's a wedding, and Asgard was presented with a formal invitation. It was completely coincidental."

"Whose wedding?" I asked, curious.

"The crown prince," he replied, concentrating on reading some kind of strange navigating device.

"Rowan?" I asked, remembering my cousin.

"And his bride from a far northern city. Apparently it is quite controversial," he added, still tinkering.

"It would be. The northern territories are known to house rebellion to the throne. Such a marriage would be almost unheard of," I explained.

"Is it arranged to unite the two?" He asked, half curious.

"No. It is purely for love. Rowan has known Diana for nearly his whole life. Everyone knew that they were going to end up married. Her father doesn't approve of him, but the dowry should appease him well enough," I said, being a gossip.

"Are all Alfheimian matches for love?" He asked, making a point to seem conversational.

"No. Most are arranged, by the elders. My parents had never met before they were chosen. The elders try to balance relationships to form the best possible society," I explained.

"And they would just let the heir to the throne break tradition?"

I just shrugged. "The popularity the elders has been declining. The common people see no need for them... Which is why I am so concerned by the prophecy. People are paying attention to the old books again, which is stirring up trouble."

"Ah. And of the prophecy... You have no idea what it regards?"

"Only some, and what I have is very vague. Well, except..." I trailed off, debating whether to tell him.

"Except for what?"

I hesitated.

"In New York, when you were still knocked out... I almost died. I should have. My energy was gone. I was surrounded. There was no way to run. And then something changed. Even though I was still me, I had this power, like something had awakened. There was so much energy going through me, that in five minutes, half of the city was blacked out. I killed a Leviathan with my own hands. Just by thinking about it. Then it was gone. But it left me with something else. Abilities that no other light elves have. I can teleport between realms. Conjure food. Read minds completely. And..." I trailed off. I didn't think that I wanted to tell him that I could change minds. Especially after I had done it to make him stop arguing with me last night.

"I have no control over it. It comes and goes, and there's nothing that I can do to focus it, but I'm sure it's there and has something to do with the prophecy."

"Stop worrying. It does no good to dwell too much on the future. This prophecy is starting to control your life-"

"But that's what they _do_. Have you really never heard? What they say is terminal. Always. There's no avoiding it. There's no getting out of it. Whatever is in store for me has to happen. So excuse me if I'm worried about my future, but I really need to be right now," I finished, defending myself.

"For now, you should look at your new strengths as an advantage," he soothed. "We don't even have the prophecy yet. Tell me more about Alfheim," he said while I made myself comfortable. It seemed like this was going to be a long ride through the mountains, and we were in no rush to be getting back into trouble.

So I told him. About my family. My siblings, all boys save for Aleia and me. I was the second youngest, my little brother Eli being younger by quite a bit. He would still be only about fifteen in mortal years right about now.

My oldest brother was named Anton. He was dynamic and mysterious, but generally easy to get along with. Although he rarely used magic, he was the best swordsman in our family, beating out even our father, teaching me everything I knew. His quote unquote 'fun side' came out in the middle of a duel when you had just finally thought that you had the upper hand, only to find yourself losing by a lot, his quiet personality now gone, as he distracted you with clever words while he beat you with the blade. He was now a commander of the military, and last I had heard, he was well on his way to being a general.

Next in line was Kieran. He was, out of all of us, best suited for the throne, though he would never be allowed to rule. He had a temper that never broke, and was just as clever as I was. He was kind and generous, but also loyal to the family, and our people. He made it a point to speak his mind, while staying in line of course, and his opinion was valued among many superiors. Even before I left, he was in reserve to be one of the king's advisors, despite his relatively young age.

Our third brother was Abel, the odd one out, even when we were little, not caring so much about the realm or the family, as himself. He had a good heart, but a short temper and a quick mouth. Sometimes, he got along with his older siblings, but just as often, he argued with them just for the sake of arguing. He ignored his younger siblings. Except to pass his chores on to us. Nowadays, he would go on long hunting expeditions, or even quests. He would come back often, usually in better spirits than he left in, but with a few new scars. He wasn't a shame to the family in public, or anything, of course. They would have kicked him out for that. But there were always whispers of his lack of formality.

The fourth child is Aleia. You should already know her. If not, then I suggest that you re-read the beginning. I didn't write down the entire first part of this story so that you could skip to this bit. Shame on you.

Either way, everyone loved her, even Abel. An amazing craftsman, from the time she could draw, though she was incredibly girly, and my brothers didn't know what to do with her most of the time. She was my father's pride and joy, preferring the quiet company of a library to a bustling feast, although perfectly capable of handling both situations with ease. Aleia was the sibling that I was closest to, and it was she that I missed the most.

My youngest brother's name was Eli. He always looked up to me, and I always tried to be a good older sister for him. The brothers might have spent more time with him, but he always liked me best. I helped him get through his magic lessons, and sparred with him when he couldn't find a partner. He was always so sweet.

Aleia told me that he cried for a month when everyone thought that I had died. However much I missed Aleia, it was Eli that had almost brought me home. Almost.

My mother and father were always, in my mind, the best kind of people. My mother was the head of the queen's handmaidens, my father the headmaster of the academy, and a personal adviser to the king. They might have met through the elders, but my parents did actually love each other, along with their children, even if they were a little strict on us. Scratch a little. When I was growing up, we were taught to have impeccable manners. As babies, we were made not to cry unless we were injured. Magic kept us in check a lot when we were young, but as we grew up, the standards were the same. We were trained not only to act like good people, but to be good people, enforced by our parents. While some adults used pain as a punishment for acting up, our parents believed that inflicting injury onto others was not moral, and that if they were to do it, it would be hypocritical to their goal to raise us properly. Their disapproval was enough to stop us from doing anything bad. Or at least from getting caught.

I stopped, and stared at the sky for awhile, the clouds lazily drifting by.

"What about you?" Loki asked, looking down at me.

"Me? You know me," I replied.

"Not the old you," he responded.

I thought for a moment.

As good as my siblings were with their own crafts, I was good at magic. I always had a knack for it, graduating two classes ahead of my age. I played with the boys more than Aleia did, and I was better at fighting. I didn't mind learning how to be a lady in waiting as long as I could still do what I wanted in my free time, but I didn't really care either way. I was loyal to my country, but even more to myself, and I promised that I would never let them change me. People saw me as being more free spirited than my siblings, having more color to my personality. I liked that I wasn't just grey. Not the same. Not following their orders mindlessly like I was supposed to. I liked being myself. But I covered that part of me to stay safe, under instruction from my family. In fact, anyone outside of them and my closest friends thought that I would sooner die then break even a simple rule. Shows them.

He laughed a little, darkly.

When I was only a few months away from graduating, I got called to meet with the elders. They tested my magic. They wanted to see if I was going to defect. They had sensed that I was not normal. That I hated our society as much as I loved my family. That I thought that their decision making sucked. Because it did. They looked in my head. Pried and twisted and spied at things they had no business in seeing. But I hid what was important. They didn't know how good I was at lying. Or maybe they underestimated how much I despised them, or at what lengths I was willing to go to to escape their hold.

Before that night, I was just going to run. Just leave with a forwarding address. Maybe I could come and visit for feasts or holidays.

But after those invasions, I knew that they would never let me leave. I was too valuable. I could hear their talk, before I had left. They were impressed by my strength, and would plan to isolate me to test it further. They didn't know about the prophecy yet, but I'm sure the if they did, they would have locked me up within the minute. As it was, they gave me no date to report back, but told me that I might receive a summons. That year, just after my birthday, I left. I couldn't say goodbye, even to Aleia. I would contact her later. I couldn't take much with me, lest someone notice that my possessions were missing. I think that my father knew that something was wrong. The night before I left, after dinner, he came stopped me on the way to my rooms, and spoke to me for a few minutes. He offered me sanction. I could not take it, or I would put the rest of the family at risk.

I fled to outside of the city, and came upon a dwarfish encampment. They were dead before they knew what happened. I fabricated a crime scene, made it look like I had gone down fighting. I stole a transport device from a museum. I still don't think that anyone's realized that it's missing.

I shrugged, and dropped my hand outside of the boat. The cool air flowing past was so refreshing that it could be passed off as being water.

"But why escape to Midgard? Why not to Asgard, or Vanaheim?" He asked, staring up at the sky now too.

"Why not? It was far away, and I was desperate for something easy. On Earth, I could use magic to get what I wanted, and to blend in. The elves hate Midgard. They would almost never think to look there. It was perfect," I said.

"And how did you contact your sister?" he asked. I forgot that he had been totally in the dark about the whole magic bracelet thing. I filled him in and his frown deepened as he learned about how it had been stolen at the oil refinery.

"I know that bit, I was there," he told me.

"Really? For how long?"

"Oh, the whole time," he mused.

"Are you sure? Because as I recall, I very nearly died. You could use a bit better timing," I told him pointedly. Had I been saved a few minutes sooner, I could have avoided the whole so-weak-I'll-collapse-on-you moment that had come with that particular near death experience.

"I had to at least make it look convincing, didn't I? They thought that they had finished the job," he argued.

"Really?" I asked, surprised that I had actually dodged a bullet for once instead of actually getting hit by it.

"Well, until New York. Goodness knows that you weren't exactly inconspicuous there," he replied.

Maybe not hit by the bullet. just grazed.

There was a lull in conversation.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked. "I'll be able to manage on my own," I told him. I still didn't want him coming.

"Of course. Who else would be more qualified to cover you?" He argued.

"No one," I admitted, begrudgingly. "Not to mention you would just come after me anyway."

"It isn't my fault you make it so hard to stay away," he purred, smiling in a clever way, the sun shining down gently over him.

"Well, I'm just going to keep complaining until we're all home free," I replied, hoping that there would soon come a time when I could do just that.

 _Helloooo there! just a quick update while I've got a spare moment. Thanks for reading and reviewing!_


	18. Joy in the Journey

We went into the cave that held the portal at a normal speed, even slowing down, an hour or so later when we had apparently found the right mountain. The hole was dark and round, the outside carved with unreadable runes, a gaping mouth leaving nothing but blackness inside.

"Be quiet and stay dark. There are things in this cave I would prefer not to meet." His tone was serious and grim, and I followed his warning, nodding as the darkness fell upon us, light barely daring to follow as the mouth of the cave grew smaller and more distant the farther in we went.

After a few moments, I couldn't see anything at all, and felt a sudden burst of panic. Almost as if he knew I would be afraid, I felt a hand reach toward mine, the now familiar cool touch grounding me as I held on carefully. After a five hundred eighty-seven seconds, (I was counting), the air began to move quickly, as if there was more space around us. The skiff stopped slowly, and I could hear Loki cursing under his breath.

Suddenly, there was a green flame hovering above his hand, behind me. My eyes didn't need time to adjust, they welcomed any light easily.

The fire cast shadows along the walls, illuminating the cavern ahead of us, open and wide, splitting off at the far end into two new black spots, tunnels, that were impossibly small. There were columns and stalactites hanging from the ceiling and making the path a dangerous one. The floor beneath was water, transparent down as far as I could see, down until the light failed, where shadows slithered indistinguishably at the corners of my eyes, grotesque monsters slinking through the crystalline depths. It was clear that we needed to get across without knocking anything into the water, lest those shadow beasts come closer to the surface and find us.

The light cast a ghastly, green glow across Loki's face, which was completely focused in concentration, taking a long look into the cavern and into the dark, as if memorizing the route through to the other side. He gave me a quick smile, and the light was gone once again.

It took almost forever to reach the far side, going carefully and somehow successfully navigating the chamber. The air there felt ancient and stale to my tongue, and claustrophobia began to set in as I realized that the walls were only a few centimeters from the sides of our ship. I must have gasped at this realization because he gently squeezed my hand in reassurance.

It went on like this for some time, the dark playing tricks on my mind, making me worry about what else could be out there in the stillness and unknown, the edge of the world that had seldom been explored or even seen by any other than beasts. The cave system was complex, a labyrinth that I could memorize, but wouldn't be able to return through without the ship, or at least some other form of flying. A few times, even without light, I could sense that were were close to something dangerous, where a sixth sense was telling me that death was near. I stayed perfectly quiet, and so did Loki. I wouldn't have been able to tell he was even there with me, except for his hand in mine, and his careful voice that occasionally whispered down reassurances.

Finally, it seemed that we had gotten where we were going, as we stopped for what I could tell was the last time. We were in an open room, but there was no new tunnel in front of us.

Nowhere to go.

"Promise me that you won't scream."

His whisper, cutting through the dark, brought back the panic. Scream? What for?

I swallowed and forced myself to abandon the misguided thoughts of him slitting my throat, spurred on by the fear and anxiety surrounding me. I had to trust him if this was going to work.

"I promise," I whispered back.

"Good," he whispered. "Hold on."

There was a soft click, and our motor turned off.

We hovered for a moment on nothing more than hopes and dreams, and then we dropped.

It was just like a roller coaster, except more terrifying, no seat belt or restraint, just my hand, glued to the seat, the other still holding on to Loki for dear life. Falling into the hole below us through the dark, my stomach dropping, the sides of the skiff grinding against the cave walls, sending off sparks terrifyingly close to me. I didn't dare scream, as I had been told not to, and after a moment, it was harder to hold in a whoop of excitement. The air rushed past, and we kept falling towards the center of the planet, the sparks turning more into a rainbow, an effect that looked like the bifrost.

It all swirled into a landscape of trees, and then we were falling, not through a cave on Asgard, but through the clear and open twilight sky of what was surely Alfheim. The engine clicked back on with a buzz, and we stopped abruptly, knocking me into Loki's lap. We both let out a breath that we didn't know we were holding.

"You could have given me a warning," I accused lightly, my heart fluttering to catch up to itself, my hands trembling a little in shock.

"But then it wouldn't have been as much fun," he replied.

We both began to smile, but stopped abruptly as I saw the palace on the horizon.

It was just as I remembered, many tiers, literally carved into a mountain, waterfalls streaming through the architecture, all made out of perfectly white stone that never tarnished or grew old, and the silver that came straight from the mines.

 _Home._

* * *

 _And there you have it. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing. Ta!_


	19. Dinner Conversation

The rest of the ride was silent and tense.

We left the craft, which had surprisingly sustained very little damage on our descent, and walked to the palace on foot, waiting in a long line of guests of every race (excepting dwarves) that were waiting to be shown to their quarters.

Everything was just as I remembered it, save for a few small details. The entrance hall was woven out of pure silver, fat tendrils in arcs, rising up to meet the full harvest moons to form an entrance hall under the open sky. It never rained here, not unless our magic allowed it to, and tonight it wouldn't. We waited underneath the night sky, stars twinkling around us, Loki's hand gently on my waist, and mine around his, as proper Asgardian couples escorted each other. Even though I was wearing a strong glamour, I tried to keep my head down so that I wouldn't be recognized.

The line slowly dispersed, and when we were at the front, I received a bit of a shock. The person in charge of greeting guests was none other than my youngest brother, Eli. The one who had cried for months and gone into a state of mourning when I had supposedly died. He was now properly dressed for the occasion, wearing the traditional garb of a greeter, although I did notice that he wore a black ring on his forefinger. He looked so grown up. Gods. I wondered if he would even remember me.

"We welcome you from Asgard, Master and Lady Arathorn. Please follow your escort to your rooms." He was not the same child that I had known before I left. He had grown up. It seemed that there was something troubling him, but I couldn't quite reach it...

The escort was a familiar face too. Ajax Knarwood. He had grown too, now probably the same age as Aleia. I had been close to him too as a child, as he had always been my sister's closest friend. He didn't recognize me either, mostly due to a light glamour and several confusion spells that I had applied carefully, making anyone that I used to know avoid wondering where they had met me before, even my own family. As he escorted us, I noticed that he too wore a black ring, although no other elves did. Strange.

Our rooms were huge, a sitting room, with comfy chairs, a bathroom, fed by a natural waterfall, and a massive bedroom with a bed big enough for five people.

We settled in, not bothering to unpack in case we needed to leave in a hurry. Our first dinner would be in an hour. Pretty good timing.

Xx

The dining hall was just as I remembered it, and we were escorted to our seats. We sat next to several important figures from the government, including one of the elders. A crane-like old woman, she was tall but broken, hair a pure silver, like she was made from one of the ore deposits. All she ate during the evening (as I was watching her discretely) was a plate of boiled shallots, and she kept mostly to herself while the people around her spoke of other things. I figured that she must have been mostly deaf.

Meanwhile, Loki, or as we were calling him, _Miles_ , was busy making pleasant conversation. He was, it seemed, one of those people who could converse about anything, even if it was a lie, and managed to make friends with everyone at the table. I played my part too, talking to the other women seated around me, about foreign affairs, the current state of Asgard after the queen's death and the war with the dark elves. Of my own romance and dear, _dear_ husband. (By the way, we were totally not married. There hadn't been the time.)

The whole event went well, and The Crane (my nickname for the elder) stayed silent. Until they started talking about Eve Caster, that was.

The man who started it was an Alfheimian guardsman, very highly ranked. And very drunk.

"Did the warning to search for her reach Asgard? Have the people been notified?" He was curious to know, only opening up to talk about such a delicate topic after he had had a few glasses of wine.

"We do not like to alarm the general public with news that a powerful criminal is among them, but yes, the general warrant has been issued to the captain of the guards and the outlying cities."

Nodding, the elf took another sip of his drink.

"And have you any word of her location?"

"We have already sent out two search parties, headed by diviners, but they have found nothing. If she reached Asgard, she is not there still." Loki's tone was the perfect combination of authoritative and understanding, building trust with the rest of the table. He made it sound like I had never been to Asgard. _Clever._

"She came to Asgard, indeed." The Crane said suddenly, sitting up straighter, her intrusion silencing the rest of the section of long table.

"With all due respect, Madam, how can you know?" Loki was the only one who, it seemed, dared speak to the elder.

"The mortal brought to Asgard came into contact with her there. That much has been revealed to me."

I stiffened. If they had hurt Jane... Loki noticed, and took my hand under the table. I passed off the alarm as worry for my supposed home world.

"This is news to me. I will send word to my kinsmen as soon as possible."

This seemed to reverse the spell of silence that had settled over the table, and talk began again.

"Remind me, Merkel, what is this she-elf wanted for?" Loki asked, talking again to the loose-lipped elf who had begun the conversation.

"High treason, selling of secrets, and murder in the highest order. It was only revealed recently, as everyone had thought her dead before the last lunar festival, when we received word from an outside force that she still lived."

An outside force? Thantos? Or had it been The Other, the creep who had come after me at the oil refinery? Someone else, maybe?

 _Gods, how many people want to kill me?_

"And that alone shows her truly deceitful nature," Loki said, nodding. Leaving me, the conversation moved forward, mostly about the wedding, although I was lost in my own thoughts.

After a brief speech from the chieftain (aka the king), dear old gramps, we retired to our room.

XXXXXXXXxxxxxx

 _So, since you all must have figured out how terrible I am at updating these things, I am oing to make it up to you with an updating marathon, to hopefully keep you company as you procrastinate studying for finals or whatever it is that you'll be doing for these next severral weeks. So thanks for reading and reviewing! xx_


	20. Visitor in the Night

"That wasn't so bad," I declared, once we reached safety, as I draped my coat-like outer robe over a chair.

"Says the mass murdering traitor to Alfheim," he replied. I swatted at him and giggled.

" _'Yes, we have_ lovely _poppies on Asgard'_ ," I quoted, imitating his voice, and making him roll his eyes in response.

"Well, she _did_ ask," he justified. "And anyway, _'He's quite dedicated to his work. Although, not as dedicated as he is to me._ ' You said that in quite a naughty tone, my dear. Goodness knows there will be talk of us in the halls of Alfheim tonight," he quoted, smirking. Caught red handed. Again.

"I had to make it up on the spot. After all, we don't have much of a history. And what we do have isn't exactly dinner conversation," I replied. "Ah yes," I imitated, using my Asgardian Royalty voice. "First he tried to possess me. Then I tried to kill him. We make _such_ a lovely couple, don't we?"

"We really do, darling," he replied, in character as Miles. I laughed, and he moved back into the bedroom to begin sorting through our supplies. I picked up a book to read while he worked, reading in the sitting room alone, until a knock came at the door.

"I'll answer!" I called, expecting servants that would come in to draw a bath, or to take our requests.

I opened the door and was shoved roughly back in, the person following me, and pulling a blade to my throat. Stunned, I realized that it was Aleia, my sister. Well, if she was really going to try and kill me, she wasn't going to get very far.

I ducked below her outstretched arm and drew a sword of my own, concealed under my robes, and engaged in combat. We fought fiercely, although I realized that she wasn't trying very hard to win. She was just... Testing me? I dodged a slice and parried, backing her up against a wall, where we still fenced. I looked for an opening. In my absence, she had improved. She blocked one of my better maneuvers, and I gritted my teeth and pushed myself harder. She fell back.

 _Ah, the left._

She always forgot to defend her left side. Even now, it was weaker.

I directed my attack to the that side, where I was promptly able to find an opening, and her blade flew out of her hand and embedded itself in the thick carpet ten feet away.

Now that the action was over, I realized that I was quite angry with her for attacking me. What a way to welcome me home.

"You always _did_ forget to defend the left," I stated quietly, the sentence a little bit darker than I intended it to be. She seemed relieved to hear the sound of my voice, but she also noticed by my tone that I was not in a good mood.

"Deepest apologies. There are many here who are not who they say they are. I had to be sure that you were not one of them. And what better way for me to tell than in a fencing match? I assumed that you would not have changed so much over the years as to let me win for once," she apologized, smiling and immediately lightening the mood. I dropped my sword, and hugged her.

"I could have killed you," I whispered, still in the embrace.

"I wouldn't have let you," she replied.

We pulled apart, and sat down on chairs in the drawing room.

"You must tell me of your life. We have not spoken for so long, and I sense that much has changed in that time," she prompted.

I filled her in on everything up to that point, stopping several times to explain mortal technologies and such, as she had not known of many of them.

Then it was her turn. We had never really gotten the chance to talk about how things were going at home on out chats via bracelet, so I never really heard of anything that had happened while I was gone.

"On the first night that you left, by coincidence, only I would imagine, the old books were under review for information regarding the dwarves. This hasn't happened for some time, at least far before your birth, when our great grandfather was chieftain. It took them quite a while to find your prophecy, and even longer for them to realize that it was possible that you weren't dead. A large part of that was because of Mother and Father."

"What could they have done?" I asked, curious.

"Well, when you first were reported to be alive, just after we last spoke, they gathered all of us together, in their chambers. Do you remember how they would do that when we were children, to deliver important information?"

I nodded. The very first time was when we had declared all out war against the dwarves. They presented both sides of the view on the war to us and explained what consequences might come of it. I was very young then, only three hundred or so.

"They explained to us that there was a prophecy regarding you, and that your death was most likely false. They described to us what they had done to stop the elder's search thus far, only once they had told of what the elders would do to you should you be caught. By then, we all had vowed to protect you at all costs. And we were bound to the truth. Our rings-" she lifted her hand to show the ring made of black silver, identical to the one Eli and Ajax had worn, on her finger. "Are crafted as a bond of truth and trust. None of us could break our vows even if we wanted to. Your secret is safe."

I was somewhat awestruck, that they would do such a thing for me.

I stopped for a moment.

"Why Ajax?" I asked, curious. He had never liked me that much, as he only had eyes for Aleia.

She promptly smiled shyly, and I knew at once what had happened.

"He is my husband. We were married two years ago," she replied, happiness in her eyes.

"That's amazing! I always knew he loved you," I said, overjoyed that someone in my messed up life had gotten a happy ending, and at the same time sad that I didn't get to see the wedding or even learn of it before now.

"We are expecting our first child soon. We haven't told anyone yet," she added. It only made me happier.

"Congratulations! And the elders? They did not arrange it, did they?" I asked, curious.

"They did not, but they blessed the marriage. I wish that you could have been here. It was a lovely ceremony."

"I can hardly imagine it," I smiled.

"Back to facts of importance, however. I take it that your bracelet was stolen?" She asked, standing and pacing.

"Yes. There was nothing that I could do," I responded. She nodded in sympathy.

"And now you come for the prophecy?" She asked

"Yes. Do you know how to get to it?"

"No. It is heavily guarded. A master of magics would be needed to enter," she replied, looking stumped.

"Well, then I suppose that I may be of assistance," Loki spoke up, entering from the adjoining room, immediately causing Aleia to draw her weapon once again.

"It's all right. He's with me," I put a hand on her blade, forcing it down.

Aleia took a good look and raised her eyebrows in inspection.

"An Asgardian," she said, somewhat approvingly.

"He's my cover, and a master of magics at that. We can get in with his help," I responded. "His name is Miles Arathorn. Miles, this is Aleia, my sister." I introduced.

He walked over pleasantly, and offered a hand, which she shook.

"You picked a good one," Aleia told me in our customary language, which she didn't know that Loki spoke. It seemed she could tell that he meant more to me than just a cover, and she approved. Miles smirked.

"Everyone will want to see you," Aleia started.

"Then we will meet tomorrow night, and make plans," I replied. I was tired and the bed would be comfortable.

"Very well," Aleia nodded, sensing my weariness. "We will meet in father's office after the feast."

"I will see you then."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _So just a reminder that I wrote this about six months ago and that I have barely edited this and that it isn't exactly what I would call my best work, so thanks for hanging in there for me and reading and reviewing and all. So yeah. Thanks_


	21. Sleepless

Sleeping again in the halls where I had grown up was strange. The same sounds moved through the palace as I tried to sleep, the same kinds of birds flew outside, and the same breath of wind echoed through the corridors. The carts that the servants pushed had the same quiet jingle when they came to a stop as they always had when I was a child.

I had never admittedly been in the guest's area of the palace, and I found that I didn't like it as much as where I had always been prior. Everything was too clean, too perfect. It looked as though no one had been here before, unlike my old home which looked neatly lived in.

All of the memories of my childhood came flooding back to me as I laid in bed and stared at the ceiling. I was exhausted, yet, too... Sad, perhaps, to sleep.

I got up, noiselessly, and walked out to the balcony, standing over it, and looking out.

I could have been a hero here.

Instead, I had become an outlaw. I would see my family tomorrow. Would they love me for that decision, or hate me for it? Would they want to push me to my goals, or the goals of the elders?

I sighed deeply, and inhaled the cold, evening air, remembering a childhood that meant nothing to anyone but me.

The forest laid before me, trees as tall and ancient as a Midgardian mountain. Twin moons hung overhead. A third one was absent, new, tonight.

There was the sadness, a pressure pushing on my chest, making me feel heavy and weary. I had held up for so long without tiring, escaping my home, living on Midgard, then Asgard, so many years that I had lost to what I could only hope what wasn't a useless cause. Would just listening to the elders have proved wiser?

The prophecy troubled me most, though. What would it say? Why was I so important? Was I even asking the right questions?

I was beginning to have a sinking feeling, what I hoped wasn't a premonition, that this prophecy would not end well. I knew that it was majorly important, and those were usually the most dangerous kind.

I had the distinct feeling that I would die.

In some way, I had come full circle. Home at last, perhaps the last place where I would rest before meeting my end.

Loki had come up noiselessly behind, and carefully held me, looking out into Alfheim with me.

"I didn't mean to wake you." I said, quietly.

XXXXXXXX

 _(L. POV)_

"No matter," I replied smoothly, carefully, not wanting to disturb her.

Being again in the halls where she was born was having an effect on Eve, something beyond the magical. It was as though she had suddenly realized fears that she had once put to rest, worried about problems that were not meant to be hers any longer. She was doubting herself, her decisions, and... Me.

"I couldn't sleep," she started. "Being here... It reminds me of when things were simple. I never had to do anything myself if I didn't want to. I had siblings, a family, a kingdom who could help me. Now all of that's gone."

"Not all of it," I reminded, gently.

Although I was behind her still, I could feel her melancholy smile. She didn't want me harmed. I could understand that much. What I didn't know was what else was troubling her. Childhood was never alone enough to drive someone to despair.

"And I thank you for that. But all I can do is wonder if it will be enough. This prophecy may be more than I can handle. It may be more than _we_ can handle," she replied, explaining her true fears.

"Exactly what do you expect from this oracle?" I asked, tentatively.

Immediately, I felt her energy, her emotion turn to dread. I could no longer hear her thoughts, as she was now too powerful. I knew that she could read mine enough to tell that my intention was not to inspire fear. I spoke up again.

"And do you know the nature of our Fates? I know that the elves prefer science over religion."

She shook her head slowly.

"Then I think that you have been spending a little too much time around the Greeks. They are two very different concepts."

I took her hand carefully. Her fingers were small next to mine, well worn with the familiar callouses that came with wielding a blade.

"Our Fates are called the Norns, and there are three of them. No one has seen them for centuries. The tablets they carve design the destiny of the worlds, but they do not carve it until the events have taken place. They may try to predict the future, but they can't. What they tell is not set in stone. You have the will to choose your own destiny, even within what must happen in the destiny of others."

She stared out into the night sky, almost lost in thought. She was trying to force herself to say something, what she needed to get out of her head. However, whatever it was scared her, nearly into silence.

"There is another reason why I believe that you should not be here," she confessed, at last.

"And what is that?" I asked, cautiously.

"I fear that the prophecy may result in my death. Or worse... You cannot protect me from Fate. I will not be selfish if I must choose my life over the rest of the universe." She was whispering now, sounding withdrawn, some kind of hopelessness keeping her from her true emotions.

"I believe that there are things greater than Fate," I replied, with as much of a reassuring confidence as I could muster. "And one of those is what I feel when I'm with you."

She didn't need words to ask the question. Did I mean what I said? She turned around, her eyes a deep emerald, highlighted by the silvery moons, gazing deeply, into my own. I held her gaze with what I hoped was sincerity.

"There's nowhere that I've ever felt more whole than by your side. I never thought that I would need anyone again. But Fate has already been cruel. You have had your happiness, your childhood stripped from you. You are willing to give your life. To have so much taken away would be hard for anyone. What more can the universe want to take?"

She ran her hands absently down my back, making me shiver. Her eyes looked deeply into mine, whether searching my thoughts, or just holding my gaze, I would not know. She had already sacrificed so much. What was she so terrified to lose?

Finally, with the weight of a thousand stars, she spoke.

"You."

XXXXXXXXXX

 _(E. pov)_

"What was it that you said to me, once?" He asked, musing, almost, remembering.

He was trying not to show how deeply my answer had reverberated through him. I felt it though, like raindrops usurping the surface of the ocean, a thousand new feelings setting some thoughts alight, while quenching others.

"Ah, yes. I remember it now. 'You will never lose me, unless I want to be lost.'"

I shook my head softly, letting out what might have been the ghost of a laugh, now not even a breath.

"It was different, then. It was my choice. This is beyond us."

"Nothing is beyond us, beyond our choices. The Norns rely on our destiny to be created by us. The universe and its authority may do what it likes, but it will never be enough to separate what we have if that is our will."

"How can you know?" I whispered.

I suddenly wished that he too could silence my troubles as I had silenced his that night in the throne room. I wanted him to reach into my mind and stop the doubt and fear at its source, even if it meant that I wasn't in complete control. I was tired of always having to solve my own problems. I was breaking.

But he could not change my thoughts, and the questions tore at me, begged for response. How could he be so sure that we would have our happily ever after?

"I can't know. But what I am sure of is that I will fight for it with my last breath. And if you will too, then we will never have to imagine a world without each other. I will always be at your side. We will face it all together."

I felt my fears ebb, although my confidence did not yet dare to return.

"I am troubled by so much..." I had lost most of my true worry, and now donned a deeper sorrow, more brought about by the place that I was in. I missed home. I missed my family. I wished that things could have remained as they always had been.

Looking out into the night, into the glassy surface of a lake in the distance and the moons in the sky, of a similar view to the one of my childhood bedroom, the sadness came in waves, each successively stronger, waiting, until the moment when the levee broke and the tears came flowing through.

Loki held me as I cried.

He understood, I think, that sometimes it all seemed like too much grief, that we have seen too much sorrow, and that sometimes, it catches up to us.

Sometimes, the monster wins.

I pressed my cheek into the front of his robes and for the moment tried to concentrate on his soft embrace, soothingly rubbing my back, feeling the sorrow with me. Not speaking, and not needing to.

For the first time, I allowed him into my mind, into my thoughts, for him to understand that I trusted him, that I _needed_ to trust him, that he was my only remaining lifeline in the storm that was my destiny.

That I really and truly prayed with everything that I had that he would stay as my rock.

That this wasn't just another one of his tricks.

XXXXXXXxxxxxXX

 _(L. pov)_

In the end, she fell asleep in my arms, on the ground of the terrace.

When her mind became clear, and her breathing grew soft, I lifted her and carried her back to the bed, tucking her in carefully.

I had never seen her so vulnerable, so... _wounded_. When she had allowed me to explore her thoughts, I had realized how truly broken she had become, how well she had hidden it, even from herself. And still more miraculous, she had trusted me with some of her deepest secrets, her own insecurities and doubts.

She had her own demons just as I had mine.

But somehow, she had looked beyond the monster that I was. She wanted, no, *needed me to do the same. I was her last hope, the last defense in what should have been a perfect life, but was instead ruined.

Just as mine had been.

I longed to find a day where we could be at peace, with no prophecy, no nation searching for us. Eve, however, would not rest so long as any world was in danger, would not stand aside and watch from the shadows.

Who are gods meant to pray to? That was a question I often asked myself. Tonight, I prayed, to everything in the universe, that we might have our peace at last, free from the hel that it had become.

Eve wanted it just as much as I. Which was why she couldn't know of my plans.

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 _FORESHADOWING. and also some cutesey couplesy stuff. Fun to write, especially all of the emo bits. Thanks for reading and reviewing and such! XX_


	22. Catch Up

The morning was brighter. We quietly took our morning meal in our room, and played (I know how dumb this sounds) go fish. It was, in my opinion, _hilarious_ trying to introduce otherworlders to Earth technologies, and I found it a nice distraction from the rest of everything that was going on.

The afternoon featured a ride around the grounds on horseback.

Alfheim had a beautiful stable, featuring several different kinds of horses, some with multiple extra legs, others with wings, and also several unicorns. There were huge work horses and thin racehorses.

In my family's section of the stable even my old horse, Sturmhond, waited for me.

He was a tall grey stallion, with soft eyes and a white star on his nose. In my absence, he had been cared for well, though according to my sister, his attitude had suddenly become severe when I left. He bit anyone other than my immediate family who tried to come near him, and had bucked anyone who had tried to ride him. I knew why he had done the last part. I had trained him to only allow those who correctly whispered a code word to him to mount, meaning he would be useless to any one who might have wanted to buy him.

Although he wasn't supposed to have any magical abilities, Alfheimian horses were bred to understand human speech and to be more intelligent. They were good for running both for a long time and very fast, and could easily carry astoundingly heavy loads. They were most likely the reason why cars had never been developed on my world; our horses were just as efficient.

When I approached the stable, Sturmhond immediately perked up, as he had previously been looking quite depressed.

"Hello boy," I greeted, walking up to him and petting his nose, to which he eagerly sniffed my hand and bean to nuzzle. He whinnied softly, almost as though to tell me that he was glad to see me. At least someone was.

I couldn't ride him, as much as I wanted to. Instead, we borrowed horses and rode out to a picnic.

We made a point of talking about nothing other than our fake Asgardian life when we were out and about in the palace or on the grounds. Outside of the palace, we rode for hours around the beauty of Alfheim. Crystal lakes, waterfalls, mountains, all more beautiful than anything on earth. I had missed it. We rode home after a picnic on the shores of a lake, having just enough time to prepare for the night's feasting. A typical marriage festival would last for a full cycle of our largest moon, but because of the trouble in Asgard, we had only been able to attend the final three days.

Throughout dinner, I gathered news. My parents had retained their positions of honor, and had somehow managed to uphold their reputation in the midst of my blackening their name.

I finally met with them after dinner, before the dancing and drinking celebrations of the evening. We were escorted from our rooms by my mother's oldest and most trusted maid, Maia. She opened the door to my father's library, then gave me a smile, but remained as a sentry, the black ring on her forefinger prominently displayed throughout.

Upon entering, I felt several pairs of eyes, all focused on me, like a desert wanderer taking his first drink of water. My mother was the first to speak.

" _Eve._ " Her eyes were straining not to tear over, and she stepped forward, embracing me. "Let me take a look at you. How you've grown, my child. I only wish I had been there... Oh? And this must be your accessory." Loki had come in behind me and had closed the door quietly.

"Yes, M'lady. In your service," he answered, bowing deeply.

She turned her gaze back to me.

"I am proud of you, child. We know what you have braved so far. The mad titan searches for you yet. And we will have many a plan to make to secure the prophecy, if that is what you desire. But first tonight, you must relax, for there is much to discuss, and a family that you must come home to. Converse with your brothers and sister, and find what you will of them. I will speak to you again, once you have heard what they have to say."

She nodded at my siblings, waiting in the library. "Until then, your father and I shall become acquainted with your friend, and see if he meets our standards." I gestured to Loki and he came over to speak to my parents.

"Thank you mother."

My siblings waited for me to speak to them individually. First was Anton, as I would have to go oldest to youngest.

He hugged me tightly, for quite some time.

"My little Evie," he laughed. "Finally come home to finish your chores? You have missed quite a bit while you were away. This world has changed, and so have you, as I have heard. Aleia has filled us all in."

"I have indeed changed, and it is mostly, I think, for the better. How have you fared in the past years?"

I asked, happy to see that he had hardly changed a bit. Whippet thin, and as tall as sapling, with our mother's light hair, which was kept quite neatly short. His sword hung at his side, and I couldn't help but wonder if I had improved enough to challenge him in a fencing match.

"I have fared well. I now command all forces that reside on our world, and we have all but silenced the dwarves in their raids. I may not have a family of my own yet, but, well, you know me," he finished, making me laugh. Many girls have had their hearts set on Anton, but he has only ever had eyes for one, Rosalie Etscher, now apparently an artist, acclaimed for her dresses made for the queen. She was two classes lower than he was, which meant that they were forbidden to marry, unless both wished to be banished. Kind of incredibly tragic. We spoke for a while longer, and I wished him the best of luck.

Next was my brother Kieran. He was taller than I remembered, with soft, dark brown hair, like my father's. "We have missed you, Eve. Your absence has left us incomplete, and this is a time when we must be at our strongest. It is good that you have returned."

"I am glad to serve my family and my home in any way that I can," I answered. "But tell me now about yourself, Kieran."

"I now serve as the king's chief adviser. We have worked hard to completely quell the rebellion in the north, without spilling any blood. Now, I have a wife and two small children of my own. My youngest daughter is named for you," he replied. I was so touched that I didn't know what to say. Instead, I flung my arms around him tightly, surprising him completely. He laughed in return.

Unlike my other siblings who sat in the center of the room and spoke among themselves, my third brother, Abel sat alone at the window, anxiously looking out into the moonlight.

"Abel?" I called, as I came near.

He turned around, and his face split into a grin.

"Little sister. Grown up at last, I see." His clothes were more worn than those of anyone else in the room, and his face was scarred across his bottom lip, his left ear missing the point at the top. His dark hair was messy and needed a trim.

"I've been busy while you were gone, and I fear that your persecution may be my fault. Do you remember the lost city of Lansith that we always spoke of as children?"

It was a simple Alfheimian myth, a children't story.

"Of course," I replied.

"I had found it in the desert and claimed it for the throne. Perhaps someday you can journey there. Their library of works that it is famous for was unearthed, barely saved, but buried deep in the sand. It was there that your prophecy was found, and for that, I am truly sorry," he said morosely.

"Do not fear. The wealth of knowledge that you have found far surpasses the consequence that I may face. Be rid of your anxiety, and instead, tell me of your injuries. How did you lose your ear?"

"That was a Ravager that I met while searching for the the diamond of Asteria. The blue bastard didn't think twice about taking off the top. I'll kill him for it yet."

"And your chin?"

He grinned.

"A bit of trouble with an Oscavarian, is all. Though you may have grown, you will have to be older still before you can hear _that_ story," he smirked.

"Then in that case, allow me to take my leave. There is yet much to say tonight," I said by way of farewell.

"May the light go with you."

The customary Alfheimian well wish.

"And you."

Aleia was next.

She hugged me like an old friend would.

"What, do you not see fit to attempt killing me tonight?" I joked.

"No. Why even speak with me? You already know of my endeavors." She asked.

"You did not tell me that you are an adviser to the queen. That is of importance. And I seek your opinion about Miles. You have had time to collect your thoughts."

"My advisory position is not of importance," she shook her head, being modest. "And as for your partner..." She was quick to summon her thoughts.

"He is quite good looking, but I suppose all Asgardians are. He is clever. And he is truly devoted to you. I may not see his thoughts, but I can see that much. Are you certain that you are not being deceived?" She asked, concerned.

"Yes. I am." I replied, with full confidence. _Almost._

"Then he is a good match for you. You never did find anyone on Alfheim very interesting, did you?" She asked, smiling.

"Not true. I was sure that I was in love with Ezikel Gaze for nearly a century."

"So was everyone else our age," Aleia replied, seriously, making me laugh.

I turned to go find my youngest sibling, Eli, only to have Aleia pull me back.

"Listen. Eli has been taken in by the elders for training. You must not ask him how he spends his days, or what work he does, as he is very distressed by what they force upon him. He will gladly speak of anything else," she finished.

I walked to the sofa where Eli had been sitting and reading, and he closed his book as I sat down next to him. He had grown much more handsome over the years, although it was overshadowed terribly by deep circles under his eyes, and an air of ancientness that emanated from him. It was eerie.

"They took me because of you."

He spoke, before I could so much as greet him. He still sounded like a child, his soft voice devoid of hope.

"Who?" I asked, surprised.

"The elders. They have no use of me, except to torment. They use my life force to search the realms for you. They could have much more power if they chose someone older. Someone stronger. Instead they chose me. Tell me that it is not because of you, Eve."

He looked at me, his eyes begging for the truth.

"Damn them!" I cried, pulling him in tight. "I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to hurt any one. Gods..."

"I know you didn't Eve, I know," he sobbed. "But I can't help it, Eve, it hurts. I try so hard to keep the blame from you. I try so hard to tell myself that it isn't your fault, but all the elders do... It's torture Eve. They hurt me, again and again, every day, they hurt me, and Eve, they made me hate you. Until I saw you, how much you loved me, Eve, I hated you. They hurt me so much..."

He sobbed for a while longer, and I held him, rubbing his back and crying until he felt better. He pulled himself together just as well as any Caster should.

"I'm sorry, Eve. I just... I want it all to be over."

"So do I. I will never let them hurt you again. They will pay dearly for this. You will have leave for the wedding, yes?"

"Yes."

"Then forget your suffering, and soon it will be no more than a distant dream."

"I will do my best."

There was a pause where I took a deep breath.

"So. Do you still fancy Cecily Draves?" I asked, referring to a girl that Eli had always liked, one of the few elves with flaming red hair.

"Those who serve the elders are not allowed to think of such things." He shook his head, his expression again darkening.

"Well, a little rebellion never killed anyone. You should ask her to the summer festival," I suggested, imparting my wisdom.

He laughed a little.

"Okay. Thanks," he replied.

As I rose, my father met my gaze and came to meet me. Both of my parents were still quite young, but also very prestigious in our community. My father was the leader of what could be explained simply as our university. Sort of like space NASA.

"My child. You have been through so much." He embraced me.

"I am so proud. I only wish that you had taken my safety and had stayed closer to home."

I shook my head.

"No, father. You have already faced too much for my crimes. And for that I am truly sorry," I apologized.

"You have already done more good for others, even on this planet, than you have caused harm. You have been so brave..."

He smiled, but his eyes were serious.

"But now I must ask you to continue on your journey. Our very existence as a universe depends on it. You must be courageous for a while longer. You may come close to death, but swear to me that you will be steadfast in your heart, and do what you must to keep fighting."

"I swear it."

"Good. Now go to your mother. She wishes to address you."

"Thank you."

My father then switched places with my mother as she came to me. He, meanwhile, seemed to be having a very serious talk with Miles (aka Loki). They glanced my way every so often, and nodded deeply.

"Eve. Are you certain that you want this prophecy?" My mother asked, seriously.

"Yes. I must accept my destiny," I replied.

"And will you do whatever it takes to get it?"

"Anything that I must," I agreed, solemnly.

"Good. Then you must send Miles to meet with your father in the morning, before first light. Then wait in your rooms, and I will send for you when I am ready."

"Thank you, Mother. For all that you do," I replied.

"Ah," she smiled, her eyes glittering in the moonlight. "I have hardly done anything alone. Your siblings have done equally as much, if not more. You will do more for yourself yet, if you continue your quest." Her face was full of melancholy, as she seemed proud but sad for me.

Strange.

"Eve, you have been gone for too long. The old age is passing, and full rebellion is nigh. You may have come home just in time to urge it on. May the light go with you, my child."

Saying goodbye took longer than saying hello did. I got the sense that my mother had told them something that I didn't know, and they all seemed almost... Depressed, to be saying goodbye and wishing me luck.

They all looked weary yet on edge, soldiers the night before a coming battle.

When I said my final goodnight and had left, I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

But we were still expected to be making merry at the party for the wedding, and when elves mention having a good time, they mean it. We have some of the best foods and spirits in the galaxy to my opinion, and I was perfectly content in having a good time celebrating the wedding of my cousin.

We didn't get back to our rooms until very late that night, and I collapsed into bed within a moment, not even bothering, for the first time in a long time, to worry.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _This is the whole 'calm before the storm' chapter that I am so accustomed to writing. Fun stuff. Thanks for reading and reviewing and all. Ta!_


	23. Good Morning, Starshine

"Eve."

It was early. _Too_ early.

"Hmmmm?"

And I might have had just a _bit_ too much fun at the wedding last night.

"Eve, it's time for me to go,"

I turned away from the gentle hand shaking me awake for a moment, and put my head in my pillow. Then I lifted it, realizing the Loki was probably trying to wake me for something important.

"Do you _have_ to go?" I asked, barely bothering to open my eyes, already missing him.

"Yes."

"Do _I_ have to go?"

He wasn't going to listen to me and stay. But maybe I could catch up on a few more hours of shut eye. He laughed a bit.

"No."

"Then when, _exactly_ will I learn this plan of yours?" I asked, pulling myself up enough to try and get some blood flowing, ignoring my very glamorous bed head.

"Not before it's safe for you to know."

"You don't have a plan yet, do you?" I asked, catching the idea.

"If I said no, would you call me a liar?" He toyed.

"Yes. I already know you're a liar. Calling you out for not yet having a plan wouldn't even be the worst thing I've ever said to you," I responded,

"And what might that be?" He asked, teasingly.

"I love you." I replied, unintentionally and impulsively saying the first thing that came to mind.

"And do you regret that?"

His question seemed impulsive too, like he was afraid of the answer.

I thought for a moment.

"No. You've never done anything to really harm me. Nothing that I couldn't stand against."

"But I may yet," he replied.

"And I may yet cut out your tongue and feed it to a squirrel. We all have our risks, the things that we may someday do. The point of love is to forget your fears."

"And you have? You don't fear me any more?" He questioned. I was still a bit tired, but I managed a decent response with a moment of thought.

"I never feared you. I feared what you could do to me."

"And you do not still?"

"There is nothing that can make my love for you stop."

"That's an awfully bold statement."

"I'm an awfully bold person," I smirked.

"I know."

He was kissing me softly now, carefully, but boldly on the lips. His taste this morning was bitter, and I wondered for a moment if he'd been drinking, the taste of him strange, unfamiliar.

But his eyes were clear and his hands steady, as I noticed a moment later as he left to leave, quietly closing the chamber door so that I could fall back to sleep before the sun came up again.

Twin moons were low in the sky, and I watched them for a moment as my mind drifted back to the land of my dreams, all the while feeling warm and happy and completed by my partner in crime who'd somehow managed to fall in love with me.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It'd _killed_ him to do it.

It had been hard enough to deliver the poison this time. Not in food or drink, not by injection or otherwise.

But by the contact of her lips on his.

The soft taste of her skin and the sweet smell of her hair were nearly a poison to him too. They all made him feel the guilt of the situation. They made him regret his task.

The poison may have only been to put her to sleep, not to death, though where she was going, she would probably prefer the latter.

And that brought him to the task at hand.

The chains in his hands felt too hot, or perhaps it was too cold, their silver metal nearly burning his fingers as he prepared her wrists to receive them. She looked so vulnerable, her skin pale and soft in the dawning light.

She slept while he closed the cuffs around her wrists, did not wake when they clicked on, although her body suddenly jerked, nearly spasmed in pain as her power was cut off from her.

He flinched along with her, but could do no more than whisper apologies and wishes for good luck into her ear before he kissed her forehead and left the chamber.

It was time to turn Eve over to the Elders.

Which meant that she must forget him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _Dun dun dunnnnnnn. Dramatic bits. Very emo and sad and dramatic. I love it. Just you wait. The prophecy will be discovered in the next chapter. VERY exciting stuff. Thanks for reading and reviewing and for sticking with me so far! xx_


	24. Prophecy

The first thing that I noticed was the alone.

Apparently, I had grown used to sleeping next to someone else, used to the feeling of another body pressed up against mine. Cold rock wasn't the same.

Then I was confused, because I had never even so much as met anyone who I would sleep with once, let alone long enough to form a habit with.

 _Where was I?_

As I tried to make a light, I realized that I was powerless.

Not the normal kind of powerless, like what happens when your parents decide that it's time for a family outing, but literally without having power, bindings separating it from me.

My magic was gone.

The last time that I had been in nearly this same situation, back in the oil refinery, I had escaped, barely, by the skin of my teeth.

 _But how?_

My thoughts strained to remember how I'd gotten free. Who'd been there to save me.

But it was all a blank.

In a moment, I realized what had happened.

 _Memory charm._

Probably temporary, but still such a hindrance all the same. It was like a part of me was feeling an extreme emotion for no reason right now.

It seemed like I was... _Angry? Hurt?_ The tears that were streaming down my face and blotting up my vision said the latter.

Angry and hurt by someone. _Family?_ That was all who I knew that I loved. But I remembered every detail of them, even the more recent ones, as I had come here alone from Asgard in search of the prophecy and had spoken both to my parents and all of my siblings. I remembered that they did not yet have a plan. So the elders had somehow found me anyway.

Unless, of course, I had been betrayed.

Betrayed by someone close to me whom I trusted, and was now deeply hurt by, even though I couldn't remember who they were.

And I was _crying_ about it. Since when was I so soft?

But the way I felt hurt; it was more than just pain, something that somehow stung and lingered, something that made every part of what was happening to me seem so much worse than it really was. It was a feeling of hopelessness, of the alone that I had always somehow felt before- before _who_?

The sadness gave way to frustration, made worse by the fact that I was still feeling so broken. There was no way for me to know.

A noise resounded in the darkness around me and I returned to reality.

There was no way to figure out who it was. There was no way to find them. Or to _punish_ them.

So I would just have to get my shit together and figure this out myself.

The frustration and sadness and all the other emo things were gone, and in their place was something new.

 _Hatred._

I was pissed off big time. And the thing about being pissed off is that it gives you the feeling that you can do anything.

Which is a powerful feeling indeed.

I stopped puzzling over the lost memories for the moment, to feel around where I was currently chained to the floor. Even if part of my memory was gone, that was now officially the last thing that I had to worry about.

Because as the smell sank in, I realized that I was in the Catacombs.

Xx

Now, anyone who knows anything about anything knows that catacombs are never a happy place, what with being filled with dead bodies and such, but the Alfheimian catacombs hold a particular terror that others do not. Because of some kind of spirit-y mumbo jumbo that some ancient elder had done way back before I was born, sometimes the bones come alive with the flesh of the bodies that they once occupied. On top of the creepy limbs reaching out to grab anyone who happened to stray too close to the wall, the entire place was pitch black, (at least in the dungeon), which in case you haven't noticed, is pretty much the opposite of how I'd like things to be.

"If it isn't the trickster, awake at last," a voice creaked, from somewhere out in front of me. I couldn't tell how far, as it really was so dark that I couldn't see.

 _Wait, I recognized that voice._

The Crane. One of the elders from the feasting that I had seen.

 _Crap._

"I may seem like a trickster, but that's only because it was so easy to pull one over on you," I replied, wishing that I someone to hold on to, to stop the darkness from forcing me to panic as- _someone_ , must have, somewhere along the line.

"Trickster or not, we have still caught you. And you will not escape us this time," she rasped.

"I don't intend to escape. I plan to walk out of here with your head on a pike, free as a bird."

Call it gruesome, but I was still stuck in the default ' _super pissed'_ mode, and this conversation was not doing anything to improve it.

"Why did you come back then, if it could mean that you would lose your freedom, hmm child?" Another voice rose from the shadows, cool and calculating and distinctly male, presumably another one of the ancient leaders.

"Ah, the Prophecy!" Cackled a third, more insane sounding, excited and laughing. "The greatest Prophecy since the Call of Aldon. The Prophecy that would save the universe. Such wisdom and knowledge in its verse. Such power in its word. The future foretold. _Ha!_ Prophecy of fools! Prophecy of fakes! Prophecy of falsehood!" He cackled.

 _Wait, what?_

"There never _was_ a Prophecy, Caster." A fourth voice droned, cold and raspy, like stones grinding together, gloating a bit, satisfied, perhaps, but bringing the truth as though it was a cold, hard axe brought down swiftly upon my neck. Merciful.

I was nearly grateful for his precision. "You were drawn in by the promise of an end. By the promise of knowledge. And now it has brought about your doom."

The breath seemed to leave my lungs with his final promise, with the denotation of my death. This voice was one that I didn't recognize from previous visits to the elders (although those had been much more pleasant and above ground). One of the older ones must have died and been replaced.

The fact that their kind all continued on, and that my life was about to end was nearly too much for me.

They weren't lying. That much was clear in the way that they gloated. There _was_ no prophecy. I would die here by their hands, and that would be it.

"Foolish girl to return here all based on a rumor. Foolish girl to jump into the pit of snakes and pray that they would not bite you. Prayers are not enough against the cruel universe. You should know that by now, child. Every good parent teaches it to their children when they are young. But then, I suppose your parents weren't quite to be described as _good_ , were they?" This voice was snide and rude, a woman gibing me, and I realized that I must be surrounded, as the voices came from every direction.

All eleven elders. Man, they must have been seriously pissed at me to pull out all the stops like this.

"Do what you must, but I'd still consider it a waste of potential," I replied as airily as I could manage.

"Potential?" Laughed another. "What potential might that be?"

I focused on the feeling of my new abilities, unlocking them a bit, and let a soft sheen of light glow around the room. The effect was immediate.

"Impossible!" Hissed one elder.

"Improbable," corrected another.

"It's blasphemy!" Screeched another.

"A new god!" Whispered the next, reverently.

They all stood in a circle only about a meter away from me, hidden deep in the folds of their hoods.

All eleven were present, although only ten of them had spoken so far.

"Be calm my brothers and sisters!" Crowed the Crane. "She has the blessing of the Norns, but knows not truly how to use it! See her still trapped, still weak. Eve Caster has not accepted their gift as of yet, and so she can still be killed!"

The gift of the Norns? What the actual _heck_? I'd have to look into that later, as it seemed that they were moving closer to the whole killing thing at the moment.

The Crane advanced from in front of me wielding a wicked knife.

" _Wait_."

The one with the rasping voice halted the rest. "We must search her memory first. To discern how she slipped from our guard and how she came by this power."

They didn't need a vote to see that he was right.

Each used their left hand to grab onto the arm of the next person in the circle and extended their right hands towards me as they moved in mechanically.

Oh, _no_.

The last time they had done this particular ritual, was the night before I left home last time. They had sworn that they would go easy on me, that it would hurt but not terribly, but they had lied.

As they neared, I tried desperately to get out, but was totally trapped.

The circle grew closer as I felt ten hands pressing into my skin, the one with the rock salt rasp remaining out of my mind as an anchor, a job always dedicated to the youngest in their rank, while the others dove in.

They each touched with their two forefingers, and all of them were different; some scaly claws, others rough or calloused, still a few smooth and well cared for.

Each set had a specific place on my skin, one for each of the first ten sacred spirit floes that each Alfheimian had. Temples, shoulders, back, elbows, the forehead, and the center of the chest. There were more, but those were the first ten, selected for use in this ceremony.

There isn't normally a problem with looking into people's heads for two reasons. One, because I'm the only one doing it, and two, because the other person can still function while I poke around.

In essence, what the elders did now was cram all ten of themselves into the close quarters of my mind, and freeze me so that I couldn't do anything about it, or even use my own thoughts.

It was painful beyond words, beyond physical pain. And it was happening right now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The eleventh elder watched, hands clasped with the others as they descended on the girl like vultures.

 _No one should have to fall prey to them, to the very people made to defend,_ he thought as he withdrew his urge to stop them.

Their duties as elders were not to bring pain, not to invade. They were to make peace, not war, to create trust, not fear.

They were not meant to kill, but to _save_.

And saving was exactly what _he_ planned to do.

But it took a sacrifice.

He had gotten his instructions from Eve Caster's parents, and from the tall stranger who she had traveled with.

The tall stranger who walked like royalty and had eyes you couldn't quite trust.

But the eleventh elder was forced to believe in their plan, because it was the only one that the rebels had.

He was an elder, yes, but the youngest one, newly added, one with a rebellious heart bent fully toward the cause.

And so he had to suggest that the other elders enter Eve's mind. Because once they went in, they would not come out.

 _If the stranger had been telling the truth._

And so he did his final duty, broke the oath he had made to the Elders and dropped their hands, releasing their only anchor back to the real world and leaving them in the girl's wild mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She was frozen in pain, her face tortured, contorted, not crying because she couldn't even so much as cry.

And then it all stopped.

Their hands, the connections to her, began to shake, began to glow with a burning blaze.

They threw their heads back, hoods dropping and light streaming from their eyes, ugly, wrinkled faces burning in sharp relief. The smell of cooked flesh rose over the dank dungeon must.

They fell to the ground as she rose, their knees buckling to an unwilling kneel as she lifted her hands.

Her chains shattered and the shrapnel flew outward into the cloaks of the elders as they fell at last to her feet, silver blood flowing from their open wounds.

She lit the torches on the wall and illuminated the gruesome bones at the edges of the cell.

Eve's eyes glowed as she floated a few inches above the floor, coming to the eleventh elder almost in a daze.

He lifted his hood and smiled at her, graciously kneeling.

"You have saved us all," he bowed.

 _"Rise."_

Her voice was hers but flooded with power and command.

The eleventh elder stood, about eye level with the being in front of him.

"We have all saved ourselves," she said, wisely. Suddenly, her power seemed to fail, and she dropped to one knee, shaking her head and coming out of her daze.

"Gods, what happen-"

She was interrupted by being grabbed from behind with a knife to her throat, the Crane rising from her near death on the floor, eyes burned out of her skull and flesh seared and boiled, blood running down her front.

"You have not saved anyone Caster, for as long as I live, the old ways live with me. The Gift of the Norns cannot save you now. My blade will end your life-"

The Crane drew in a sharp breath and fell to the floor, dead at last, a stranger standing behind her wielding a glinting blade, his eyes fierce in the dim torchlight.

"Not before my blade ends yours."

Eve stared, uncomprehending as the stranger drew nearer to her and looked deeply into her eyes. She couldn't begin to understand the emotion rising in her, the turmoil inside that she felt as if from a distance. She knew this man. He had come to save her at last.

"Please forgive me," he apologized, before he pulled her in tight and kissed her.

As she felt his lips on hers, her memory opened again, like a safe suddenly cracked, and she realized what Loki had done.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _SO there's this chapter. Knowing me, you probably wouldn't be surprised to learn that I first got the idea that there would be no prophecy because I didn't feel like writing one, since I hardly knew what would be happening next in the story. But, then, I realized what a plot twist that it would be and that it was kind of a genius idea, so I kept it. I like it when that kind of thing happens. So, thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm nearly done with the prewritten bit, so the marathon will likely end soon. Sigh. But it was good while it lasted, I suppose! xx_


	25. Aftermath

It had all been for me.

I would have to face my worst fears, yes, but I would learn of the prophecy, and destroy the source of the pollutants tainting Alfheim.

That didn't stop me from shoving him abruptly, as soon as I remembered myself, and could force myself to pull away.

"What, a kiss is just supposed to make everything better?"

"Well it always did in the Midgardian fairytales. I thought it fitting. A kiss to break the wicked spell." He smiled a little bit shyly, as though he was really hoping that he had gotten it right. Gods, why did he have to be so sweet? At the moment, all I really wanted to do was celebrate my victory, but the logical part of me was livid.

"You betrayed me. You conspired with my family against me. The spell might have been broken by a kiss, but it's going to take a hell of a lot more than that to fix everything else."

"Was that an invitation?" I could tell he was teasing me, and cursed myself when I felt my grin break out.

"No, it was an ultimatum. No more lies. Please," I asked. I wanted him to choose me over trickery, to keep both of us safe and together from now on.

"All right. At least for a while longer. As long as you can promise the same."

"I never told you anything but the truth," I protested.

"And that's why you packed all of your things for this journey? You certainly told me that you were going to leave after you learned the prophecy."

"Well, I never exactly told you otherwise, did I?"

"I suppose not."

" _Ahem."_ The eleventh elder was standing to the side, listening to us bicker, slightly amused. His hood was up once again.

"You _have_ just finished a revolution, if you'd care to return to the real world."

"Ugh, but the real world is so mundane. Are you sure we must return?"

"Yes, Lady Caster. I'm afraid we must."

"All right. Then lead the way."

The corridors were dark, and we followed the eleventh elder who carried a torch that shone with witchlight.

"Eve, what is the true verse of the prophecy?"

Loki asked, a few minutes later.

"There is no prophecy. It was a lure to bring me home."

 _But there's something else_ , I reminded myself. The gift of the Norns.

Whatever the heck that was.

"Surely there was something. Think," he prompted.

"Nothing but, you know, being tortured and mind controlled. Chained up. Sorry if I wasn't taking notes," I accused, moving closer to the center of the passage as to avoid some of the limbs on the walls that were reaching out.

"She's right," the remaining elder rasped, authoritatively. "The prophecy was a ruse. They wanted to punish Caster for her treachery."

"And you couldn't just tell me that because...?"

"I did not know the truth until I heard it. I have been made an elder since the prophecy was supposedly uncovered, and they reused to tell the full verse without reason."

I would have to find out from the elder what the gift of the Norns was. But not now. Loki's betrayal had only made me more sure of the fact that I would have to go by myself if it involved a quest. Which it sounded like it would.

Another day another quest.

And I knew that he would not take being ditched well.

Too bad.

He kept glancing back at me almost to check if I was all right. When he caught me looking, he gave a wisp of a smile, in reassurance. I smiled in return, but didn't feel any warmth behind it.

Sure, he'd let me face my own demons, but what if something had gone wrong? What if I wasn't ready? If I needed help? He'd left me alone in the moment when I had needed him most. And sure, by erasing himself from my memories he'd kept us (or more just himself) safe, but in doing so, he'd revealed to me just how much I had come to rely on him. I

t was a dangerous flaw, my blind spot and Achilles heel all in one. If anything *actually happened to him, I'd be left lost and vulnerable.

 _Just what I needed._

When I got back to the surface, nearly the whole world was waiting for me. My family was in the great hall, all looking anxious and slightly worn, as it seemed that they had fought their own battle at the surface.

They had spoken of rebellion, but I hadn't quite realized how central they had become in the whole ordeal.

The goal was that the crown family would eliminate the elders from power, as they fed like parasites on the monarchy and the people, forcing taxes and tributes to be raised, passing laws that benefited only themselves, and even raising their own army that was preparing to move against the crown. It was a strong belief among nearly the whole planet that if Alfheim wanted to be truly successful, that power would have to be taken out of the elders' hands.

And so it had been.

Peace had been hard won, as the elders' army was highly trained and had many resources, but the key battle won for the capital crushed them nearly completely.

Now the government was rebuilding, and doing it well. More Glorious Revolution, less French Revolution, fortunately. Gods, I love mortal history.

My brothers were war heroes; my parents hailed as genius.

I was praised the most highly though, and if I had been famous before, then now, I was Harry Potter.

They wanted me to have a place in the legislature, or perhaps in the courts, but I declined. I don't think I could've sat through one of those meetings, let alone a lifetime of them without falling asleep.

I hung around home for a while afterwards, and managed to forgive everyone for almost killing me. Forgave, but didn't forget.

I spent many of my days out riding through the countryside, most often with Loki (who was still in disguise), or reading quietly in the library. Secretly, though, I was still gathering information about the Norns, preparing for a possible quest.

And then the dreams started.

There was a swan in all of them; a creature of blinding white light, always gliding through the air, always following the same path.

It would call for me to follow it, to be careful as I ran to keep up.

The elegant bird led through aberrant and perilous landscapes unlike anything that I had seen before. The skies were strange cauldrons swirling in upheaval and violence. Sometimes, there wasn't a sky at all, just a darkness above so pure that no light could penetrate, the swan looking particularly spirit-like then.

Other creatures would occasionally appear, always keeping to the path before me as they traveled on, always careful to not step one toe out of line.

Eventually, I saw why. I watched as a squirrel type creature once dropped an acorn or something similar, and it rolled away from it, onto the grim and dusty looking desert alongside.

Immediately, the squirrel ran off the path, chasing the food without thought.

I watched in amazement as the creature paused its chase no less than a foot away, turning back to the path almost in horror. It began frantically to run back, but even as I watched, it started to burn away, leaving nothing but dust and sand blowing in the wind. In half a minute, nothing was left but a skeleton, bleached as white as the swan ahead of me, and a small acorn sitting in the sand beside the path.

 _Now you see why you must not go astray. To do so would be to call upon death._

The swan was beautiful in a tragic way. While it appeared, living, you couldn't help but think of all the ways that its beauty could be tainted, of all the ways it could be killed or harmed.

Always, I woke from my dreams to a pad and pencil, to write the night's instructions down, to keep careful note of any new information, or tips to finding and keeping to the path.

This notebook quickly became my constant companion, and I spent more time with it than with nearly any other person.

Loki did not know about these dreams.

Once the elders were defeated and I had become a national hero, we'd changed rooms since we were no longer posing as a couple, and had ceased pretending to be in a relationship publicly, as I was something of a hero. And not the type of hero who conspired with those of other planets.

He'd even left a few times to check on affairs in Asgard, or something, always to return within the week.

Over time, I gathered information about my quest.

There was still the titan Thanos to be thinking about, and I really needed to get a jump on finding out what my power was before he tried to make another move on me, as any cover I may have had had been blown to smithereens.

It was the next time that Loki planned to leave that I intended to begin my quest.

XXXXXXX

 _And thus ends the marathon posting. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted. Anyway, this puts an end to where I know what's going to happen next as far as this story goes, so I'm going to have to spend some time figuring out what to write. Good fun. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing so far! If you have any questions or concerns or the like, feel free to review with them, and I'll be happy to answer! xx_


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